Troubles and Decisions
by Boo Radley 5000
Summary: Slade sets up the perfect situation in which Robin and Raven are allowed only a series of reactions. Being given the most difficult choice of your life with no correct answer. And why is Slade doing this? The rating is well-earned. Not for children.
1. A Catch 22

Warning:This will be extremely violent, somewhat nasty, horrid language, and triggering. Whoever that doesn't discount may continue to read.

Disclaimer: They are not mine.

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**A Catch 22**

"Every decision you make is a mistake"

-Edward Dahlberg

* * *

Robin was sitting in the common room flipping through channels when the screen fizzled and then changed to a dark link. 

"Slade," Robin growled, standing instantly, "What do you want?"

Slade smiled indulgently, though you couldn't see it through his mask and spoke, "It's not actually a question of what I want Robin, but rather what you want."

Robin narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean?"

"Why don't I let you see for yourself," Slade stepped away, allowing a figure to come into view.

Robin's face contracted in horror as Raven came into view. But it was a different looking Raven. She was covered from head to foot in blood, and her usually intelligent looking eyes were dull. There were slightly glowing shackles on both of her wrists- Robin recognized them as a replica of those used by the Justice League to sedate magic-user prisoners.

"Raven!" Robin gasped, "Are you alright?"

Raven didn't say anything and she avoided looking at the screen. Slade moved back in front of the camera link, obscuring Raven. "What have you done to her?" Robin asked harshly through clenched teeth.

"If you want her back, then you must come and get her. Only you. If anyone else comes, than you can kiss your little birdie goodbye," Slade taunted, "We're in the warehouse. You should get here soon."

The screen fizzled and went back to the bright commercials. Robin paused, his heart pounding hard. He had to go get Raven, there was no other choice. The others were out, he had almost left with them. Hadn't Raven been in her room. What happened? Robin quickly got his gear together and he raced out of the Tower on his cycle.

The warehouse looked ill guarded and unused. Robin quickly made his way in, knowing full-well that this was a trap, but Raven... Her eyes had never looked that dead before.

Robin raced through empty corridors and rooms before finally reaching a large room with a single lit candle in it. He stopped and walked cautiously into the room and towards the candle. Nothing was moving. Suddenly a large dark stain on the wall caught his attention. He picked up the candle and moved towards it. Written in large letters in drying blood were the words, 'Look behind you.'

Robin tensed and then jumped to move forward when a steel booted foot punched him in the back. Robin flew forwards and hit the wall, the blood staining the back of his uniform."I told you to look behind you," said a dark figure that was emerging from the shadows.

Robin heard what Slade was saying, but he didn't really understand yet. His brain was off and his reflexes were on, fighting Slade was his only concern. He got back up to his feet and as he turned, flung a birdarang towards the villian.

Slade merely stepped to the side and the birdarang flew past harmlessly. "Silly boy," Slade spat as he disappeared into the shadows.

Robin jumped forward to try and grab Slade, but the man was gone. He searched around frantically, breathing hard and holding his aching face. A door appeared in front of Robin. He knew that he was being led further into a trap, but he didn't care. He needed to get to Raven. Robin opened the door and stepped inside.

There she was, slumped against a wall, her blue cloak wrapped around her, bloody and raw. She looked so defeated. "Raven!" Robin hurried over to her and reached out with both hands to touch the shackles around her pale wrists.

Instantly Raven jerked back, panic in her eyes. "Don't touch them!" she rasped.

"Raven, it's me!" Robin said pulling back his hands a bit.

Tears filled Raven's wide and confused eyes. "Don't touch them!" she begged.

Raven begging..."Raven, I'm just going to get these shackles off," Robin explained gently, reaching out and putting his hands on the cold hard metal.

A sudden spike of ice hit his hands where they were connected with the metal and he jumped back with a curse. The voice of Slade suddenly appeared again. "Getting the bracelets off will be a little trickier than that, dear boy."

Thick wire hooks reached out and pulled Robin to the wall, holding him in place by his ankles and wrists. Robin struggled harshly, but all he was rewarded with was bleeding skin. "Why are you doing this, Slade?" Robin shouted.

Slade walked out of the shadows and ignored Robin, going instead to Raven. Raven seemed to sense him approaching and she cowered even deeper onto the ground. He payed no attention, and grabbing her wrist with a vice like grip he yanked her into a standing position.

"Robin, I thought that I might show you something that you can enjoy," Slade called lazily.

He was holding a whip in one hand and with the other, he roughly yanked Raven's cloak off so she was standing instead, wearing only her leotard. Slade turned and looked Robin directly in the eyes, "She's taking your punishment," he explained softly, before turning and cracking the whip on Raven's still form.

The whip licked over her body and bit into the pale uncovered flesh of her back. Robin felt the echo of the pain through his bond that he shared with Raven. It was not a conscious bond, but rather a bond that occured when the two were both reaching out for each other at the same moment.

Raven's body shuddered with the pain of it, and she sank forward. Slade grabbed her by the hair, "No no no...We're not nearly finished."

Raven struggled to hold herself upright. Robin struggled to break free, "Stop this! Why are you doing this?"

Slade cracked the whip again and another bleeding welt scarred Raven's skin, "Because I enjoy your pain," Slade said, raising the whip once more.

After twenty hits with the whip, Raven was bleeding, crying and trembling from the blood loss and pain. Slade hit her again and despite her best efforts, she sank. Slade dropped the whip and stood over her. "Oh, I see that you like being on your back instead. Well, I've got something to help remedy that as well."

Slade turned and looked at Robin who seething, his arms dripping with the blood that he caused with his repeated struggles. He was shaking with rage and helplessness. Slade moved until he was behind Raven, keeping his eyes on Robin's face the entire time, and then grabbed her by the hair and placed a knife under her chin. Robin froze.

"Robin, I've got a little bargain for you. You have the option of stopping this. All of her pain, is because of you. It would be easy for you stop it...so easy," Slade murmered yanking her head up by twisting her hair cruelly.

"What do you want?" Robin managed to say through his tightly clenched teeth.

Slade smiled to himself, with the expression of a cat who had cornered a mouse. "The only way that I'll let Raven walk out of here alive, is if you fuck her."

Robin froze completely, his movements, his breathing, his heart. He was at a complete loss for words, unable to reply at all. Slade continued, "You fuck her, I'll let both of you go. You don't, and I'll kill her and let you go. Those shackles will drain her should you choose to wait," Slade paused and smiled, "You know you want to."

Robin managed to find his voice for a moment, "Why? Why are you doing this?"

"I need Raven, Robin. Her father also needs her. She is his way into this world," Slade lost his smile for a moment, "There are...reasons. I can assure you of that."

Robin shook his head, "No, we defeated him, he's dead."

"Do you really think that you can kill a demon, Robin? I thought you were smarter than that," Slade ran a hand down Raven's nearly unconscious face, "As long as she is of use to him, than she can be alive. But if not, than we kill her."

"What does this have to do with me?" he burst out.

Slade sighed, "We need the child. We need your child. Raven's almost out of it, she won't remember. The child, she will think is mine," Slade's expression turned to that of distaste, "Though I'm not really one for such crimes."

Robin clenched his fists as he further struggled. "Once she's pregnant, than you'll have nine months Robin," Slade continued. "Nine months to plan and...and hope. You do that well, don't you? Or else you can say no, and her blood will soak through the floor and you can begin your lifetime of regret."

Raven's eyes fluttered closed. Robin flexed his arms against the bonds. He wouldn't be able to make it in time. There was no way that he could win this fight.

Slade pressed the knife deeper into Raven's throat and a thin line of blood flowed down her body.

"What's your answer Robin? Yes? Or No?"

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Please review.  



	2. The Effects

Disclaimer: I do not own this.

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Chapter two: **The Effects**

'By itself, pain is not always enough. There are occasions when a human being will stand out against pain, even to the point of death. But for everyone there is something unendurable-something that cannot be contemplated. Courage and cowardice are not involved. If you are falling from a height it is not cowardly to clutch at a rope. If you have come from deep water it is not cowardly to fill your lungs with air. It is merely an instinct which cannot be disobeyed.'

-George Orwell in 1984.

* * *

Raven didn't move at all. The only indication that he had that she was still alive was the fact that he could see her breathing. She started to shiver, deep chills racing up and down her spine. Then the air around her began to grow foggy with the temperature and Robin could feel the air change. He touched her forehead and was astounded. She was easily thirty degrees below normal, cold and clammy. 

Robin pulled out the covers from underneath her and began to cover her up, trying to get her temperature to rise again, but he could feel ice forming around her. Shocked he stood back in time to see her form become completely outlined and then surrounded by ice. He reached forward with lightening quick reflexes, but she was utterly encased and absolutely unreachable.

Robin stood back, trying to make a decision. Was this supposed to be happening? He didn't know. He and Raven had never talked about anything even remotely similar to this. He reached out to her mind through their connection, but he was blocked by a large icy barrier. Robin thought suddenly of the shackles she had worn. When he had tried to take it off, there had been a spike of ice.

Was this some sort of trick of Slade's? Robin ran into his bathroom and turned the tub hot water faucet full blast before racing back to Raven. She was still encased in the ice, her eyes frozen open. He gathered her up, blankets and all and carried her into the bathroom. Once in the water, the ice began to melt and crack and Raven emerged from the ice, shivering and blue. Robin kept the water going until it also grew cold.

Now how was he going to warm her? The hot water was gone, and all of his blankets were now in the tub just as cold as Raven was. Robin headed back to the closet by his bed to see if there was anymore blankets. There wasn't. Robin rubbed his face tiredly.

I can't deal with this right now, he thought. I can't do this. I shouldn't even be in the same room with her.

A sudden blast from the bathroom violently startled him. He turned around and was greeted by the sight of Raven standing in the doorway of the bathroom, water tracing down her nearly naked pale flesh. "Raven..." Robin faltered.

All of the open cuts were gone, replaced with wicked looking scars and her hair was long again. The scars etched in her skin began to shift and soon resembled the symbol of Scath. Her eyes were a shiny white and her stance seemed disjointed. Raven began to stride over to Robin, her walk even more disjointed than she had originally thought. Her eyes slowly bled back to regular color.

"Raven?" Robin asked, taking a small step forward.

As her eyes bled darker she let out a gasp. "What's wrong with me?" she rasped. "I can't...I don't know what this is," there was an expression akin to panic on her face. "These aren't my powers!"

Robin could feel a burning bile rising up his throat. Raven slowly slid down the wall so that she was slumped on the floor. Her face spasmed and a new emotion seemed to take over it, this one more needy. "Robin, please help me. I'm so cold."

Robin hesitated as this Raven lowered her head into her knees and cried. After a moment or two of silence, Robin walked over to her and knelt by her gently wrapping his hands around her shoulders. "Let's go to your room and see if you have any more blankets."

She looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes. "I won't remember this in the morning."

Robin stopped and stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm Intelligence, one of her emotions," her voice said. "I'm not sure how this is going to work."

"How can her...your...mind be so divided?" Robin asked.

Raven shivered a bit, "We've never been known for our great communication skills. Now, we'll just stay away from each other," she smiled and a bit of the cynicism showed through her eyes, "Though they might wonder about the baby."

* * *

Robin was in the training room, beating the punching bag with senseless abandon. His muscles ached, and the cuts that he had on his wrists were still there, burning. How could this have happened? He was the good leader. One of his comrades was in danger. He did what he had to in order to get her out of danger. There, that was simple enough. By that standard, he had done the right thing.

His hair was wet with sweat and his knuckles were bruised from the attack.

But he _hadn't_ done the right thing. The right thing would not have made Raven turn into that. He had taken advantage of a situation. He had taken advantage of Rav- "I HAD NO CHOICE!" Robin screamed as he lay into the attack with such wild anger, that the bag fell to the floor.

Robin stood there breathing heavily and staring sightlessly at the swinging chain. Raven would be okay. This sort of thing took time. She was asleep; maybe when she woke up her emotions would be under better control.

Robin bent mechanically and dragged the broken bag over to the wall. His mind so felt so strange, so out of control. I'm going to lose it.

Robin grabbed a towel and buried his sweat soaked face in it.

Robin was outside of her door. He couldn't remember having moved at all. Maybe she was alright. Maybe everything was actually fine. Maybe none of this happened, and it was some nightmare that his mind had created to haunt his waking hours. He overrode her security system and stepped inside of her room.

She was sleeping. Huddled in a corner of her bed, her blankets twisted around her waist and back and her hair spread out over her back and shoulders. Her breathing was shallow and uneven. Her hand drifted up onto her pillow and a scowl creased her forehead.

Robin took a step towards her bed, his heart in his throat, reaching out in some empty gesture of unwanted comfort. Robin jumped back as Raven's eyes flew open, fear lacing his features. No, she remembers, I'm a monster, I'm some horrible monster the mantra repeated in his mind. He turned and left even as he heard Raven murmur his name in recognition.

There was a difference between being a monster and a good person. It was okay to fight criminals and get a joy from the righteousness of destroying evil. But it was not okay to enjoy the actual fighting, the feeling of breaking someone else's bones, feeling through your fist the very moment the other person was defeated. Robin had always fought with himself over this. He had saved Raven. The pleasure he got from it was from having Raven back safely...right?

Robin headed into the tech room where Cyborg was sitting fiddling with various contraptions. "Robin," Cyborg greeted in a voice just above freezing.

Robin was so out of it, that he didn't even notice the frostiness in the air. He nodded a greeting and then headed across the room to work on an old project of his, the process of crystallizing air. He opened the folder of blue plans and stared at them aimlessly. I wish that I could meditate like Raven, Robin thought, just repeating chants and being completely under control.

A shadow fell over the papers in front of Robin. He didn't notice until a deep voice spoke, "Are you going to bother turning the page?"

Robin jumped and looked up, "I'm just a little preoccupied."

"With what?" Cyborg asked softly, in a fairly dangerous voice.

Robin shook his head. "Nothing."

"Would this have anything to do with Raven, by chance?" Cyborg asked with a slight snarl.

Robin became suddenly aware of the temperature drop within the room. "Um...no-"

Cyborg was now two feet in front of Robin, "I saw you last night, you jackass. What have you been doing with my baby sister?"

Robin's eyes widened and then narrowed. "I haven't been doing anything."

Cyborg stared at Robin and then before Robin could even decipher Cyborg's expression, the man had a hand around his neck and was crushing him up against the wall. Robin's feet dangled and he could feel his breath drain out of him. "I'm not the idiot that you think the other two are," Cyborg countered dangerously. "I have scanners, I'm in control of the security," Cyborg's red eye suddenly flashed brighter as a light came out and ran over Robin's body, "You're heart rate is up, Robin, as is your blood pressure. What are you so nervous about?"

Robin would have paled, if he hadn't been turned red from lack of air. "I can't breathe!" he managed to gasp out.

Cyborg lowered him to the ground and bent over and breathed in his face, "Stay away from my baby sister."

Robin sat there trying to regain his composure. Shit, he thought, Cyborg knows. Even if Raven herself doesn't. What am I...? Shit!

Robin got up and ran from the room and into his own, hoping for some rest from everything there. But his room was still a wreck from its encounter with Raven earlier. He leaned against the door and struggled to remain calm. Don't break down. _Don't break down._

* * *

Raven's sleep was not the uninterrupted rest that she desperately needed. Instead it was a meeting of all of Raven's emotions within Nevermore. Raven walked around the dark and damp Nevermore looking around at all of her emotions, struggling to understand what was going on. All of her emotions were surrounding a certain harshly cloaked Raven, staring silently. 

Raven parted them and walked into the circle to see the red cloaked emotion posed on all fours on the ground. "Love?" she asked quietly.

Love quietly smirked and raised her head to face Raven. Raven drew back in shock. Love was bleeding from the nose and the eyes, some nasty cut was on her forehead, bathing her entire face in the burgundy light.

Love slowly pulled herself up and let the cloak slip back, revealing her pale body. Dark bruises were on her thighs, blood was everywhere. Bruises were on her wrists and her back was covered with scrapes. Raven stared in horror. Love gave a twisted smile, a trickle of blood flowing out of her mouth. "I gave him one hell of a fight," she rasped, "He did it out of Love, after all."

Raven looked up to realize that her other emotions had turned their backs, refusing to watch the display. Raven walked cautiously forward to touch the emotion on the shoulder. At the touch, the two fused and suddenly Raven felt herself as the owner of the bruises and blood. An agonizing pain raced throughout her bones and muscles, screeching in terror.

Raven bent over and vomited, again and again, burning blood. Black blood, all of it black. The pain was unreal, unthinkable, unbelievable. In an instant she was going to shatter and the trembling agony would cease. She managed to open her eyes and she saw Intelligence kneeling before her, holding a blanket wrapped _thing_ in her arms. Raven's pain increased when she saw it.

"Raven!"

Raven slipped out of her dream with a sob and opened her eyes to see a black and white mask above her. The pain still echoed through her body.

Robin looked down at Raven who was twitching and jerking, fear and pain glazing her eyes. "Raven, please," Robin whispered at her, reaching out and grabbing her hand.

Instantly, the pain began flowing out of her and into Robin. He closed his eyes against it, but held onto her hand, willing his body to accept her pain and her fear. Her eyes became less glazed and she seemed to realize where she was again. Her breath caught and she sat up. She saw the pain that Robin was in, the pain that she had caused him and let go of him to turn away. She buried her face in her blanket covered knees and began to sob.

Robin finally opened his eyes, the aching in his body still present and looked at Raven who he was too afraid to touch and who was too afraid to touch him. They were screwed, so screwed.

* * *

Raven walked along the shore of the island, letting her feet get hit by the cold water. She allowed her right hand to rest lightly on her abdomen and was shocked once again. Life. There was life in her. It seemed a new life, but the development was at least three months. Raven paused and looked out towards Jump city. She frowned and shook her head. How? How did this happen? 

Raven's hands trembled a bit. Her legs would no longer support her and she sank down into the waist deep water. Tears threatened the back of her eyes. Why this? Why now? They had defeated the threat of her father. She was accepted here. Why did something have to go wrong everywhere she went. "No," she said aloud, "I'm not going to cry."

* * *

Robin woke up with his head on a stack of folders. There were more piles of paper on the floor around him, the shelves behind him, and shoved haphazardly in the drawers of the desk. Robin groaned and blinked bleary eyes. If he had been capable of growing a beard, his six o'clock shadow definitely would have appeared by now. Robin let out a bit of a slightly hysterical laugh. He couldn't even grow facial hair, yet he was going to be a father. 

In the two weeks since the…event Robin had watched her carefully. She had a week of violent morning sickness. Then she'd become quiet and withdrawn, even more than usual. She and Robin hadn't really spoken to each other after the incident in her bedroom and now she didn't speak to anyone else either.

The papers that were spread everywhere contained some information on Slade. Mr. Wilson. Slade was working for Trigon, that was certain. Raven was Trigon's daughter. But how did he, Robin, fit into this puzzle? Why had they wanted him?

Robin crumpled some of the papers in front of him in frustration. Nothing. There was no link of any kind. He had hacked into every site, called in every favor, used every contact, and every bit of information that he had gathered was completely useless.

Why is this happening? Robin thought dully. Neither of us has done anything to deserve this. _Raven_ has never done anything to deserve this, a small voice in his head clarified, but you certainly did your part.

There was a knock at the door. Robin sighed and opened the door to see Raven there. "I need to talk to you," she said quietly.

Robin tried to speak but his heart was beating too loudly. Raven didn't notice- she wasn't looking at him at all. Her hood was pulled up and her cloak was wrapped tightly around her body. There was a long silence.

"Robin, I'm pregnant," Raven managed to finally say, "I'm about three to four months along now and-"

Robin head snapped up and he looked at her vividly, "Three to four months?" he repeated.

"Yes," Raven said lowering her head and staring away from him, "I don't know what happened. I..." she faded off.

Robin's head was reeling. How could that possibly be true? A small voice of hope in his head tried to tell him that he was off the hook, and it was someone else's, yet that voice was quickly squashed by a memory. No, Raven had not been pregnant then. There was no way, she had still been a virgin. Was it a fast pregnancy then? But Slade had promised him nine months! Robin suddenly realized that Raven was waiting for a response from him.

Robin twisted his hands nervously, taking a big breath. He never showed his emotions like this. He was willing to show his anger and his frustration, but not his weaknesses.But this was beyond nervousness. This was impossible.

Robin let the breath loose and looked up to meet Raven's eyes. He started to say something and then stopped. He shook his head and looked away again.

He's disgusted, Raven realized. He wants nothing to do with this. Raven let her heart harden and another wave of shame washed over her. If Robin couldn't accept this, than there was no way that the others' would. Raven started to get up, "I'll leave," she said her voice back to its monotone.

Robin instantly had her wrist in a vice-like grip. "No." Robin closed his eyes, though Raven couldn't see it through the mask, "Raven, I...I have something to tell you," Robin managed to say.

Raven stopped and looked at him, her eyes blank and her face devoid of any expression. There was a long silence. "Well," Raven prompted.

Robin ran a hand through his hair. He looked at her and then turned sharply away to stare out the window instead. "I..." Robin managed.

"What?" Raven asked looking somewhat concerned, "What is it Robin?"

"Tell me what you remember of that night when Slade took you and I had to come and rescue you," Robin stalled.

Raven gave him an odd look, the tiniest trace of suspicion on her face. "Slade had me there. I-He was trying to get to me. He was telling me all of these things about my father and he had the…shackles. And you showed up and...Robin, what is this about?"

Robin took a big breath and then he sat down in front of Raven and he took one of her hands in both of his, lowering his head and speaking earnestly, "Raven, just listen to me, okay?"

Raven had a look of surprise on her face, but before she could say anything Robin rushed on. "Slade told me where you were, Raven, and I went there as fast as I could and when I got there I saw you, bleeding on the floor. And you where just lying there, and you looked really hurt, and I tried fighting him, Raven, but he held me back. And then you passed out and Slade told me..." Robin faded out unable to keep going.

There was complete silence in the room for a moment or two. "What happened Robin?" Raven asked her voice shaking slightly.

Robin couldn't look in her eyes and stared down at her tiny, limp hand in his. "Slade told me that he would kill you if I didn't sleep with you."

There was a beat of silence and then Raven jerked her hand out of his and backed away as quickly as she could. Robin chanced a glance up at her. Her hands were curled into two small fists and her already large eyes were wide open. Her eyes suddenly seemed to burn and she let her soul self fly across the link and into Robin's mind, tearing it open and racing through memories.

There was a happy boy sitting in between two adults in bright spangled costumes. Another memory of swinging through the air, and another of Slade's face. Then the memory that she was looking for.

Raven pulled her soul self away from Robin so suddenly that it made Robin light-headed. When he finally felt better enough he looked up at Raven. Her eyes were huge and tears were flowing silently and slowly down her face. "How could you?" she whispered.

Robin looked into her eyes and saw the fear and hatred and revulsion. He was a monster. All this time he had been trying to prove that he was the good guy and it was wasted. He was a monster. Robin took a hesitant step towards her. "Raven, please let me explain."

"Raven please," Robin tried again, reaching out a hand to her shoulder.

She flinched at his touch and turned, black power dripping from her slim fingers. A sudden spray of power ripped him from the room and threw him out of it. The door slammed firmly shut after him, breaking the power code on it, so that not even a password would get the door to open again.

* * *

Robin's room was now a mess rivaling even that of Beast Boy's. After returning from Raven's room Robin had let out such a rushing pulse of angry energy that he proceeded to tear apart everything in his room. He wasn't even sure what his anger was for, exactly, but he knew that it was the most potent anger that he had ever experienced. 

Finally he fell onto his bed with a blinding pain in his temple and guilt that no amount of sleep would help relieve.

Raven had an equal amount of fury strike her room. She tore books apart, and her closet went all over the room. Her scrolls were smashed to pieces and she picked up the Nevermore mirror and flung it on the floor. The sound of it cracking instantly converted her rage to panic.

She dropped to her knees and turned the mirror frame over to see herself distorted by three cracked reflections. Her pale fingers pressed against the cracks willing them to mend themselves, but instead she got a large cut on her fingers. "No," Raven moaned, breaking into further tears.

She fell backwards onto her bed. He was the one that she had trusted the most. No one knew as much about her, she didn't care about anyone as much as she did him. Raven turned to her side and wrapped her hand around her stomach.

She could feel it inside of her, a growing evolving life. Raven managed to slow the crying and took a deep breath. She had something else. There was a child. Something new and innocent. Raven put her bloody and cut hand to her stomach and felt the child react violently.

* * *

"What's going on, Robin?" Cyborg asked, starting softly and slowly getting louder, "I just tried going into Raven's room and guess what? She's melted the locks on her door and I can hear her crying!"

Robin couldn't say anything. Cyborg kneeled down and leaned over Robin, "I have no problem breaking your skinny little neck in half."

Robin was used to withstanding a large amount of pain. As the team's only human member he had gotten used to being thrown around. He gritted his teeth against the raging, thudding pain in his head and slowly pushed himself off the ground. An anger began to fill Robin again. It was easy to protect and look after Raven when she was alone in bedroom, but where had Cyborg been when Slade had called? Where had any of them been?

"Stop asking me what I've done," Robin snarled, "Try asking Raven about what Slade's done instead!"

Cyborg's gaze wavered for a moment. "What's going on?"

"Ask Raven about it!" Robin answered angrily, "And until you do get away from me!"

He pushed Cyborg away from him and towards the door.

Robin put a hand to his aching head and winced at the tremors that his mere touch caused. It hadn't hurt nearly this much the last time that Raven had entered his mind. Of course she also hadn't ransacked it last time.

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Please review. 


	3. Interlude

Thank you all very much for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own it.

* * *

"I hurt myself today. To see if I still feel. Try to kill it all away. 

But I remember everything."

Johnny Cash and NIN-Hurt

"To forgive is not to forget. The merit lies in loving in spite of the vivid knowledge that the one that must be loved is not a friend."

-Gandhi

Chapter 3

Interlude

* * *

Raven spent over a week straight in her room. She didn't come out to eat or drink or even to go on missions. Cyborg had yet to talk to her, but every time he saw Robin he would send the Boy Wonder death stares that even the other two couldn't miss. The tension in the Tower was palpable. Robin spent more and more of his time in the crime lab endlessly researching. 

Cyborg spent most of his time going over the Tower security camera footage, but they had no cameras in the bedrooms and he couldn't figure out what was going on between the birds. Raven meanwhile spent almost all of her time meditating. She struggled desperately to get her emotions under control. Even though she was only about three weeks along she looked to be about four months and it definitely showed on her tiny body.

Her mirror to Nevermore was broken and therefore the only time that she could communicate with her emotions was when she was dreaming. Her dreams always had a habit of changing into nightmares, however. She found that the faces of Robin and Slade had become interchangeable in her nightmares and she dreamed almost ceaselessly of them. She would wake up sweaty and shaking and she could feel both her heartbeat and the heartbeat of the child inside her.

Robin's child, she reminded herself sardonically. She tried to evaluate her feelings, but after all those years of being told by her emotions exactly what was happening, she could no longer read herself well. Robin, she knew, had very little control over his emotions lately. She had ripped his mental barriers apart when she entered his mind, and therefore his end of the link was always open.

He hadn't tried to come near her since his confession, Raven noted. Exhaustion, guilt, and pain seemed to be all that he was feeling lately. Raven threw her mental blocks even higher than usual. She didn't want to know anything about him.

* * *

Cyborg was going over the security camera footage for what seemed the millionth time. He technically only needed to see something once, as he was a living camera. But he hadn't really found anything. Raven and Robin had visited each other's rooms only three times in the past three weeks. Otherwise they were never around each other. The only real evidence Cyborg had against Robin was from the night that he had carried Raven to her bedroom. 

Cyborg clicked on the file that held that night's footage and watched it again. Nothing. He rewound it and watched it again. Nothing. Cyborg hit rewind and sighed. There had to be something. Raven never cried. He hated the fact that something was going on in the Tower that he didn't know about.

He looked up at the monitor, he had rewound too far and it was back at Robin watching the television. Cyborg ran his hand over his smooth head and stared at the screen. The Robin on the screen suddenly jumped up and stared at the television screen. His face contorted and he mumbled something. Cyborg paused the tape and rewound it. He used his mechanical eye and magnified the image on the screen. There was a tiny change of light coming from the television.

Cyborg paused and leaned in further. Robin murmured something. What was it? Robin always moved his mouth very little when he spoke so it was difficult to read his lips. He immediately began to pull up the records of the cable usage. What had Robin been watching? There were many different channels viewed under that time period and then-.

There was an outside transmission. Could it have been…? Cyborg turned back to the video of Robin and tried to read his lips again. Cyborg could easily make out the word now that he was looking for it. Slade.

* * *

Robin now had a sixteen inch file on Slade Wilson. The man had children. He didn't have a wife. He had only one eye. He had been in the military. His wife had shot him. One of Slade's kids was a mute, but he had no real contact with any of them. Most of his family was dead. 

Robin slammed the file shut and pushed it away from him. What did this have to do with him? Why was a child of his and Raven's so important? Robin's eyes were blurring. He had a combined total of five hours of sleep in the last five days, and his mind still seemed damaged from Raven's search.

It couldn't be for a powerful child. Raven was inherently powerful, but all of Robin's talents were learned. Robin rubbed his head in frustration. Slade had captured both of them and had them under control! Slade could have killed both of them right then and there, what was he gaining by letting Raven and Robin live? And all of this had tied in with Trigon as well.

Robin shoved the file away from and pushed his chair back roughly. He stood and tried to ignore the pain of his cramped limbs. He started stretching when he felt the barrier that Raven had up suddenly rip down and he could feel her mind.

Please help me! She cried into his mind. "What's wrong?" he asked out loud, instantly alert.

Raven let him see through her eyes and he could see the bloodstained sheets and he could feel the clenching pain in her abdomen.

"Oh, God."

* * *

Robin knocked quickly on the solid door of the impressive mansion. The sprawling mansion covered many acres and many stories, and Robin knew it to be even bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. Robin had ditched most of his uniform on the hurried drive over and it was with normal clothing that he waited on the front steps.

The door opened to reveal an ancient though regal looking man in a crisp black and white suit. He was a man well practiced at keeping his emotions hidden from all his work with people that were not quite sane. "Master Dick, what a pleasant surprise," Alfred's eyes fluttered down to Robin's arms which held a blanket covered person and he opened the door further, "Master Bruce is entertaining guests, shall I take you to him now?"

Robin stepped inside the building and a cursory glance around told him that it was just himself and Alfred. "It's a friend of mine, she needs help, this is the only place that I thought I could take her," Robin shifted the blanket so Raven's pale face could be seen.

Alfred's smooth expression never changed, he merely nodded and led the way to the elevator. Once the doors were closed Alfred took out a key and activated the lower levels of the building. The lower levels were known by few and whenever passages to them were open, Bruce would receive a signal. Only Bruce and Alfred had activation keys.

"There's something very wrong with her, but I couldn't take her to a regular hospital, because..." Robin fumbled for words, his panic settling slightly just from being around the calm old man, "when she gets hurt she tends to destroy things."

Alfred merely nodded and the elevator doors opened with a ding. The infirmary was a state-of-the-art room, sterile seeming and blindingly white. Alfred, pulled open a compartment in the wall to reveal a hospital gurney bed with straps on it. Robin laid Raven down on it and let the blanket fall open.

Robin was once again shocked by Raven's appearance. A week without food had caused her already slender form to become emaciated and stretched tight across her bones, making the pregnancy even more obvious. Everything about her showed how unhealthy she was, her skin seemed thin and her hair was dull and brittle. Even her bones seemed more breakable.

When Robin had gotten to Raven's room he had bundled her up in the blanket that was already on the bed, so she was now almost soaked in blood. The Tower had an infirmary of its own, but Robin was sure that Cyborg had never dealt with anything remotely similar to this. So he instead headed to his old home, where Alfred had the most experience of all in dealing with superheroes.

Alfred's expression did grow for a moment when he saw Raven's pregnancy, but he quickly got it back under control. The boy was apparently taking lessons from Bruce. He instead turned his attention to the blood all around the girl.

Robin had noticed the slight expression change in Alfred and he knew that he would have to explain himself. He also paled at the thought of explaining this to Bruce. With Bruce the world was black and white. There was good and there was evil. Robin felt his heart sink- Bruce would have let Raven die.

The elevator doors suddenly opened again and there stood Bruce himself. "What's going on, Alfred, why is...?" Bruce leveled off when he caught sight of Robin, "Richard," he began and stopped again when he saw Raven.

His eyes narrowed. He looked back at Alfred who was ignoring him and setting up machines and then he looked at Robin. Bruce could always read faces well and Robin had extremely honest eyes. "What did you do?"

Robin sighed, "I'm home."

"Is it yours?" Bruce asked.

Robin stalled for a moment. Alfred acted as though he wasn't even in the room and Bruce seemed to pay no attention to him. Robin couldn't lie to Bruce. "Yes."

Bruce's eyes narrowed even further, a look of disappointment on his face, "Why did you bring her here?"

"She's hurt and I needed to take her somewhere," Robin answered honestly, "You always _said_ that this was my home so I decided to bring her here," Bruce opened his mouth to speak again, but Robin cut him off, "We can talk about this later, Raven needs help right now."

Alfred couldn't help but look up, holding his breath. No one spoke to Bruce like that, except for Robin. The man had been getting harder these days, it had been years since Richard had last lived them.

The girl suddenly opened her eyes and Alfred's attention was brought back to her. Her eyes glowed white and the overhead light shattered. "Master Dick?" Alfred called, "Your assistance."

Robin was already over beside Raven's bed. He put his hand on her shoulder and put his face in front of hers. "Raven, can you hear me?"

The glass throughout the room shattered, the walls seemed to vibrate and a cupboard was ripped from the wall. Bruce was instantly by the bed also and he looked down at the girl. "An untrained telekinetic," he growled.

Robin put his hands on either side of Raven's face. "Raven, listen to me. It's okay, you are okay. Listen to me!"

Bruce pulled a needle out of a kit and filled it. "Hold her down," he instructed.

Alfred began to buckle the restraints onto Raven which only seemed to make the fit worse. All of the lights were now broken and a side generator kicked on a few wall lamps. The needle Bruce was holding burst and the bed Raven was on broke in half. Robin was thrown backwards and Raven landed on her hands and knees. Her body became outlined in black and she was starting to shift into her raven form.

Robin crawled across the floor back to her and took her hand in his. "Raven, listen to me. This is Robin. I'm here and you're here and you are safe. Nothing bad is happening," Raven's body lost its black outline, and Robin put his arms around her shoulders and helped her to sit down. She had healed herself he noted. "I'm going to take care of you, just settle down."

Raven took a deep breath and when she opened her eyes again they were their regular amethyst color instead of glowing white. She looked around the nearly destroyed room and then at Robin. "You have blue eyes," she stated before passing out again.

There was a moment of silence within the room and then Alfred spoke, "I'll go get the broom."

* * *

Once Raven was safely deposited into a guest bedroom with monitors on her and Alfred was busy rebuilding the infirmary, Robin and Bruce were allowed a meeting. Robin sat in a chair and Bruce leaned against a desk. Bruce had a hard stare which was currently fixed on Robin. "How old are you now Richard?" Bruce asked in a fairly normal tone. 

Robin glared resentfully at Bruce, the man knew well enough how old Robin was. "I'm seventeen."

"Seventeen," Bruce repeated softly, "And the girl, Raven, how old is she?"

"Sixteen," Robin sighed, his anger dissolving into exhaustion, "just go ahead and yell. Let's get this over with, I want to sleep."

Bruce's eyes flashed with sudden anger. "You show up at this manor uninvited and unexpected bringing with you your pregnant girlfriend who proceeds to destroy _my_ private infirmary and you want to 'get this over with?'"

"She's not my girlfriend," Robin said without thinking.

Bruce raised his eyebrows dangerously, "Sorry, what should I refer to her as then?"

Robin didn't say anything. This was not how he had wanted to return home.

Bruce continued, "What are you planning to do now? Are you going to live in your persona? Because you'll be spotted instantly otherwise, you picked a rather, interesting, girl. She's not exactly easy to hide."

Robin let his hand support his forehead. He could feel another massive headache coming on. "I already know that I'm screwed Bruce, I don't need a lecture about it right now."

There was a knock at the door and it opened revealing Alfred. "I've checked in on the girl, Raven, and I thought that I would give you the report."

Robin turned to look at Alfred, while Bruce watched Robin. "She is in stable condition," Alfred continued, "I'm not sure what the started the bleeding, but the bleeding has stopped, and both the girl and the baby appear to be fine. She's quite underweight, but I'd say that a week or two here should cure that."

Robin was rubbing the back of his neck with his hand and Bruce noticed the tiredness evident in his face and posture. "Go ahead and rest, but when you wake up we are finishing this."

Robin nodded without looking at Bruce and slowly walked out of the office and towards his old room. Alfred let the boy pass and then turned back to Bruce. Bruce shook his head, "Dammit all," he muttered leaning back, "Alfred, what do you think?"

Alfred seemed to survey the room quietly. "I was remembering something earlier, Master Bruce. When Master Dick brought the girl into the manor it seemed reminiscent of an escapade of yours several years back. We managed to take care of that quietly, if I recall correctly," Alfred turned to leave, "It seems amazing the way mistakes appear to travel through the generations."

Alfred left and Bruce sighed. Alfred was like a father to him, and he couldn't ignore what the man said. Dammit all to hell.

* * *

Robin slept well for the first time in weeks. He was back in the house that he had grown up in and there was something infinitely calming about the place, as though it was inside of a time warp and adults would be there to take care of him again. This was such a safe place. Bruce allowed him to rest for over three days without calling him back. Robin would wake up just long enough to eat and then he sink back into unconsciousness, striving to make up for weeks of sleep debt. 

On the fourth day, Robin turned over in his bed and opened his eyes. Raven was sitting on the side of his bed. She was wearing a long loose nightshirt that stretched across her pregnant belly and loose flannel pajama pants that had at one time belonged to Robin. Somehow she looked different. She was still underweight, but didn't seem as skeletal anymore. She looked more comfortable too, Robin realized. Raven gave a ghost of smile.

"That's three times now that you've dropped everything else in order to save me Robin," Raven said, flatly, "I just wanted to say thank you."

Robin didn't say anything, instead his eyes widened and he searched her expression. She was being...sincere. "Raven, I-"

"I haven't been sleeping well for a long time," Raven cut him off and she looked away, "My mirror to Nevermore is broken and I've been out of touch for awhile. There's something about this place that lets me sleep and I talked with my emotions and well..." Raven looked back at him, trying to gauge from his eyes if he knew what she was talking about.

Robin nodded. Raven sighed and drew her legs up to herself. "The last time that I was in your mind, Robin I wasn't overly," she paused as though searching for the right word, "careful, and I think that I might have done some damage. I can fix it for you," she offered, reaching a hand towards his head.

He nodded again and Raven let her soul self enter into his mind. It was very different this time. He wasn't being forced to relive his memories; instead he was seeing different things. She left her barriers down, Robin realized suddenly, these are her memories. There was a soothing calmness encircling his mind and Robin felt himself relax and he felt his mental barriers rebuild.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw Raven sitting, huddled in a ball. Her eyes were wide and guarded, and expectant. She's waiting for rejection, he realized startled, she actually opened herself to rejection.

"Are you feeling any better now?" Robin asked, unsure of what to say, "You look much better."

Something in what he said must have reassured Raven, because she didn't leave or close down. "I feel much better. Alfred makes the best tea," Raven hesitated for a moment, "I felt this when I woke up this morning."

She took his hand and placed it gently on her rounded stomach. She flinched slightly at the touch, but then relaxed and watched his face intently. Robin looked blankly back at her, but then his attention was overtaken by a sharp movement. His eyes widened and he placed his other hand on her stomach as well. He could feel the life, he could actually feel it. Something undamaged out of all this horror and pain.

Raven gave him another slight smile and said, "It just started this morning. I thought you might be interested."

Robin looked at her again. He had the most expressive eyes when they weren't hidden behind his mask. "Thank you, Raven," he said softly.

Raven started to get off of his bed. "I've got to get back to my room before Alfred finds out that I left."

Even with a large stomach, Raven could still move well and she was soon out of his room. Robin knew that Alfred never missed anything that went on in this place. But he also knew that Raven needed an excuse to leave. She wasn't much for confessions and big emotional scenes, and what just happened was a huge hurdle for her.

Robin sighed and turned over again in his bed. It was good to be home.

* * *

Please review. 


	4. Occurs in Threes

Dedication: RaeVin 

Warning: This one is not for children. There is violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

* * *

Quote: 

"Just cut our wrists, like cheap coupons and say that death was on sale today."

-Marilyn Manson

Chapter 4

Occurs in Threes

* * *

Alfred moved both Robin and Bruce to an office of sorts, so that he could begin the cleanup in the training room. Robin wished desperately to leave, to do something or think of something that he could tell Bruce instead of what really happened. Bruce had the sort of hardened glare on his face that he used against the criminals he interrogated. 

"Richard, are you and Raven a couple?" Bruce asked flatly.

Robin cleared his throat nervously, "Well..." he hesitated, "We've never actually discussed our...'relationship.'"

Bruce retained an inscrutable face. "So there is no relationship, then?"

"I-I'm not sure," Robin muttered running a hand through his hair.

"What did Raven mean, then?" Bruce questioned.

Robin sighed. There was no use in dragging this out. You can be braver than that, he reasoned, or more suicidal, either way. "She and I were forced to sleep together by one of our enemies."

There, he had spit it out. Now if he could just stay alive long enough to leave.

Bruce's face darkened, "What?"

"Raven had been kidnapped by one of our enemies, a man named Slade. And when I went to rescue her, he...told me that unless I slept with her, she would be killed," Robin struggled to explain.

Bruce simply stared. Robin fought not squirm under Bruce's gaze. "And you did what he told you?" Bruce breathed.

Robin didn't say anything, didn't move, didn't even twitch. Bruce narrowed his eyes, "Did she fight you Richard?"

Robin let the silence continue until was unbearable. "She wasn't awake."

Bruce shook his head, slowly at first. "I can't talk to you right now," he stood up and opened the door.

Robin carefully stood up and was just outside the closed door-

**a figure in white held a knife above a person lying on a stone table**

**the person was bound**

**the knife was iron**

**the blade was curved**

-Robin stumbled and fell to his knees. His breathing doubled, tripled, and he struggled to retain his consciousness-

**the blade pierced skin**

**soft fragile flesh**

**hot liquid flowed**

**making skin slick**

**-**Robin moaned and sank onto the floor. His flesh itched and his fingers spasmed. He took in a deep shuddering gasp and suddenly the world cleared and he could breathe again. Sweat dripped down his spine and clung to his skin.

He lifted himself off the ground and stood catching his breath. What the hell? he wondered. He felt the exhaustion take over his body and it seemed like the force of gravity was applying itself tenfold to him.

Robin meandered to his room, which was next to Raven and Keya's and let himself fall backwards onto the bed. The instant his head hit the mattress he sank into sleep.

**the figure turned rose soaked fingers**

**to a still form **

**lying on a bed**

**naked with a large belly**

**the figure smeared the blood **

**on the stomach**

**scratching nails**

**ripping skin**

"Robin!" a voice cried out above him.

His eyes flew open as the pain rippled through him. Two cool hands cradled his face and the remnant of hurt faded. Once he could see out of his own eyes again he locked stares with Raven. Her face was pale and she was clearly worried. "What happened?"

Eyes wide he answered honestly, gasping, "I don't know."

"You were seeing something and screaming. What were you seeing?" Raven persisted.

Robin's eyes searched her face, "Blood. I saw blood, and a...knife...and a woman with long hair, but I don't..."

Raven took one of her hands off his face and stroked his hair comfortingly. "It was a dream?"

Robin closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her fingers in his hair, "Kind of. More like a nightmare, and..." he faded off.

Raven's fingers stopped. "What?"

"It seemed so real, more like a memory than a dream. But it couldn't be because I have never seen anything like that before," Robin murmured, silently willing her to continue her ministrations.

After a moment's pause she returned to stroking his head as she felt him totally relax beneath her touch. "Sometimes dreams are like that," Raven whispered.

Robin mumbled his assent and Raven saw that she had lost him to sleep again. She sat there for a moment contemplating the possible meaning of such a dream. Many of her dreams in the past had been visions or messages. And she had never heard Robin scream like that, ever. But he was a human, and humans were not prone to prophetic dreams, Raven mused.

She looked down at the sleeping Boy Wonder. Except, he wasn't the Boy Wonder here, he was Richard Grayson, adopted son of a billionaire, someone that only Raven knew. She was the only person in Robin's life that was allowed to _be_ with both of his identities. Bruce had trained Robin, but he would never see the leader of the teen titans. Instead he would always see his little sidekick.

Raven sighed and started to pull back the hand that had been resting on Robin's face. His eyes snapped open and instantly her wrist was encased in a vice like grip. "Did I say you could leave?" he questioned.

Raven's eyes hardened, but then she saw that he was teasing. He had clearly calmed down. "I don't need your permission, Boy Blunder, for anything," she said defiantly, trying to pull her hand back.

Robin smirked and grabbed her other wrist while rising to his knees. "I have to disagree. As your leader, you have to listen to me."

"If I kill you, then I would be the new leader," Raven replied icily, yanking both wrists back.

The strength of the pull made Raven fall backwards and Robin fell with her, landing on top of her. He caught himself with his arms at the last second and therefore didn't crush her, but his wide startled eyes were centimeters from her own, and his body was pressed against hers in a long hot line. A look of shock registered in Raven's eyes and then she stiffened and a look of fear flitted through her eyes. Robin quickly realized the cause of this and rolled off of her.

Raven pulled herself up quickly and gripped her cloak tightly against herself. She shut her eyes tightly and Robin could see that she was struggling against tears. Raven turned away from him and lowered her head.

Robin mentally cursed himself. Idiot, he thought angrily, she was doing fine until you screwed it up again. "Raven?" he asked hesitantly.

She let some time go by, her shoulders hunched. "I don't quite remember everything," she whispered, "but, sometimes, something will flash and I'll feel it. Not a memory, but a..."

Robin moved a step closer to her, and realized his own inability to comfort her. "I'm sorry."

Raven pulled up her hood, "Me too," she said as she walked out of his room.

* * *

Alfred walked towards Bruce and handed him a file. "Mr. Slade Wilson is dead, Master Bruce. They found his body weeks ago." 

Bruce opened the folder and was instantly greeted by the sight of a blood soaked man collapsed on a toilet in a dirty hotel room. His mouth was shut, but there was a slash run from ear to ear, grinning widely.

"They believe that he committed suicide, Master Bruce," Alfred continued, "The room was void of any personal belongings, and the body was interred and buried at the cemetery outside the prison."

Bruce squinted at the photograph. "Did they find what the man used to kill himself?" he asked.

Alfred shook his head, "The room was void of anything and everything."

Bruce frowned. Perhaps Slade had gotten what was coming to him. It was a rather strange ending, almost tragic. But no one weeps for the evil, and Bruce certainly had no tears to shed for those who did wrong.

* * *

Robin showered and dressed for bed. He had done almost nothing since the earlier confrontation with Bruce. He didn't want to leave his room and risk seeing the man. With Bruce it was better to give him time, and allow him to draw his own conclusions. Robin had contacted the Tower earlier, through Beast Boy, as a way of letting the others know that he and Raven were still alive. 

Beast Boy had seemed odd over the communicator. Normally it was hard to get the guy to shut up, and Robin had been prepared to deal with his questions. But the Beast Boy he had talked to had nothing to say, and seemed uncomfortable. After a few awkward moments of talk they closed the communicators and that had been the end of it.

Robin climbed into his bed and closed his eyes. Today had not been good, perhaps tomorrow would be better. He sighed, one could hope. He sank into darkness.

**the form on the table**

**with long hair**

**and a full pregnant belly**

**was dead**

**the figure beat her belly**

**screaming something**

**flinging warm blood**

**invoking divinity**

**the belly stirred**

**movement within**

**life from the **

**long dead**

Raven was awoken by the powerful screams coming from the next room. She jumped out of bed and ran out of her room and to Robin's door. She turned the doorknob, but the door refused to move. Raven could feel the horrifying panic Robin was experiencing, and she pulled at the door frantically. It wouldn't budge. She could suddenly sense the strong magic from within the room, something struggling to keep her out. Raven banged her hands against the door angrily, chanting trying to force her way in.

Her magic seeped under the door and worked as some sort of pacifier to whatever was within the room. Raven pulled the door open and slipped inside before the magic slammed it shut again. The foreign power was a whirlwind in the room, suffocating and painful.

Raven struggled through the room until she came to where Robin was sleeping on his bed. He was writhing in pain and screaming in terror. Raven put a hand on his shoulder and instantly the strange power vanished from the room. Robin opened his eyes, still hazy with panic, tears flowing freely.

Raven sat down beside him and put one hand on his and the other hand on his head. His hand was scrabbling at the bed sheets, clutching whatever was nearby. At the touch of her hand, his grasped hers and squeezed tightly. Raven placed his hand above her heart and with her other hand securely on his head, she opened their mental link.

A torrent of images burst from him, and Raven gasped from the intensity of it. Once she inherited all of the images of his mind she lowered her hand to above his heart. Raven concentrated deeply and managed to slow his heart till it was in rhythm with her own.

Robin's breathing evened and his eyes lost their haze. He recognized her kneeling on his bed, "Raven, what's happening?" he managed.

Raven shook her head as she brought her hand back from his heart and used both of her hands to grasp his. "I don't know. There's some magic here I don't recognize. When did this start?"

"Today," he answered, "After I finished talking to Bruce. Did you make it go away?"

Raven nodded quietly, "Something about me isn't mixing with the magic, whatever it is. Think Robin, have you been in contact with anything unusual lately?"

"Just Keya," Robin answered honestly.

Raven sank in silence for a moment and then laid down next to Robin. She let go of his hand, but put a hand on his shoulder instead. "Are you staying here?" Robin asked confused.

"I think that if I keep physical contact with you, I can keep these dreams away," Raven replied, somewhat uneasily.

Robin hesitated for a moment and then reached over and pulled the covers over her. "You're welcome to stay," he murmured, turning on his side and placing a hand out on the covers.

Raven gently touched his hand as she lay on her stomach. He let his hand cover hers. It was an uncomfortable position for the both of them. Robin was trying to keep as much distance as possible, for Raven's sake, and Raven seemed to being doing the same. Robin shifted on his side and tried lying on his back instead. It was still awkward to be stretched this far. He moved again and he could sense how uncomfortable Raven was also.

He heard a soft sigh and a, "Damn," and then suddenly Raven moved herself across the bed leaned against him under the covers. Robin froze for a moment, as Raven reached her small cool arms around one of his and rested her head against his side. They were now so close together that they shared a pillow. When Raven spoke again he could feel her breath on his skin, "Is that any better?"

Robin instantly relaxed and he turned a bit so that he was slightly facing her. "Much," he answered.

* * *

Alfred was first alerted by the screams that he could hear throughout the manor. Bruce was out on a routine patrol and had insisted that he was fine, so Alfred had used the opportunity to do some more repairs to the training room, keeping his communicator on so that Bruce could reach him if need be. 

Alfred headed towards the screams and arrived just in time to see Raven slip inside of Robin's room. The screams stopped herein after, so he assumed that everything would resolve itself and he headed back to the training room.

He noticed a sudden glow coming from the library that he hadn't noticed before in his rush to reach the screams. Alfred walked inside the library and was greeted by the sight of Keya.

The boy was sitting in a chair and a large book was in his lap. As Alfred walked closer to the boy he could see the pages of the book which appeared to be symbols of sorts. Alfred gazed at the symbols. They appeared to be part Sanskrit, but also something else that he didn't recognize, written in a deep gold color, written with no apparent reason or rhyme.

Keya snapped the book shut and looked up at Bruce with a slight expression of anger on his face. Alfred stepped back. "What are you doing up so late, Master Keya?" Alfred asked, "Can I get you anything?"

Keya stood up and his large eyes seemed to become even larger. Alfred caught his breath suddenly. One hand gripped his chest, unable to draw air. Keya took a step back. His eyes seemed to bore into Alfred's eyes. The old man moaned and fell to his knees.

* * *

Bruce swooped back into the batcave and began to walk the long tunnel that would lead back into the Wayne manor. There had been no incidents during the patrol. Gotham had seemed strangely quiet actually. 

Bruce stopped in a little room just inside the stairs in order to change out of his uniform and back into his usual civilian clothing. He placed his uniform back in its case and then opened the door to the stairs. Alfred was sprawled out on the cement floor, his neck twisted at an impossible angle, his eyes wide open.

* * *

Raven walked slightly behind Keya, who now had the appearance of an eight or nine year old, his growing seemed to be progressing at an even faster pace. His hair had grown out longer than Robin's and it was no use to try and cut it as it would just grow back. Instead of the tousled look that Robin's hair always had, Keya had a much sleeker, silkier head of hair. Raven ignored the urge to run a hand over it. Keya wasn't much of a child for physical affection and he shied away from her touch. 

Robin had entered the building ahead of Raven and Keya in order to speak with some of the Justice League officials. He had convinced Raven that they should get some testing done on Keya. His personal reasons for wanting the testing was different than the ones he told her. "We should get him checked out to make sure that this growing will stop. You don't want him to complete an entire lifetime in half a year, do you?" Robin questioned innocently.

The idea of losing Keya was so repugnant to Raven that she had readily agreed and after a few days of travel they had reached the headquarters of the Justice League. Even though Robin had called ahead to announce their visit, he also needed to go in before the appointment in order to clarify some of the details about Keya.

It was a regular receptionist that Robin ended up talking to. She typed the information into a computer and asked all the questions they would need. As this was an organization that was devoted to privacy, they merely asked for the alias names and a list of known powers of the parents.

Robin was relieved about that much. He wasn't ready to announce his identity to the world. The receptionist was a pretty woman with short red hair. She asked fairly normal questions and named the reason of the visit as a 'childhood checkup'. She finished typing that in and then looked up and stared into Robin's recently replaced mask. "Anything else we should know about the child?"

Robin hesitated, feeling the sickening hints of suspicion lurking in his stomach. He shook his head, "No, that's it."

The receptionist smiled and nodded him back to the waiting room. "Go ahead and bring," she paused to look at her papers, "Keya in and we will get him situated."

Robin went into the waiting area where both Raven and Keya were waiting. Keya was sitting stock still in a chair, expressionless, but exuding an air of calmness. Raven, on the other hand, seemed uncomfortable being in such a place, and she was drumming her fingers against her own hips.

Robin motioned her forward. She smiled slightly when she saw him and walked over. "They are ready to admit Keya for his testing now," Robin said softly.

Raven's eyebrows furrowed. "Admit him? I thought this was a checkup."

"It's a testing, which takes longer than a checkup. I thought you knew that," Robin said, lying through his teeth.

He knew that Raven had no way of knowing the inner workings of the Justice League.

Raven glanced back at Keya who was still sitting calmly, but was watching the exchange now. Robin had the feeling that Keya could hear every word they were saying, and what bothered him even more, was the feeling that the boy could hear every thought that he was thinking.

"How long will they keep him here?" Raven asked, biting her lip.

Robin tore his gaze away from Keya and looked back at Raven. "Standard procedure is for a week long study."

Raven opened her mouth in some sort of protest, but a small hand on her wrist stopped her. Robin and Raven looked down and were shocked to see Keya standing beside them. They hadn't even seen him move. "It's okay mother," he said in a small voice, "I wouldn't mind staying here for awhile."

Raven used the opportunity to put her hand on the boy's head and caress his hair. Robin had noticed that she seemed infatuated with hair in general. He found it interesting, since she normally didn't like to touch people or to have them touch her. "Fine then," Raven said as though against her better judgment.

Robin breathed a quick sigh of relief that she had accepted and together they walked Keya further into the inner workings of the Justice League.

What Raven didn't see was the work that went into testing the child.

The very instant that Keya was out of their hands and Robin and Raven both walked out of the Justice League center they were struck by the sudden intimacy between the two of them. They had not truly been alone with each other for over a month and it was startling.

Raven actually shook her head a time or two, as though clearing it. Robin glanced at her and then he looked out towards the city before them. "What now?" Raven asked out loud.

Robin cleared his throat, "I don't suppose you have any money, do you?"

Raven's head snapped towards him. The thought had suddenly occurred to her that Bruce, Robin, and...Alfred had been footing the bill for the past month. In fact, now that she thought about it, she had never had to pay for anything since she joined the Teen Titans. That struck her as a very bad idea, as it meant that she had no savings as her own. She was jolted out of her reverie when she realized that Robin was staring at her, waiting for an answer. "Where would I have gotten any?" she asked.

Robin sighed, "Bruce has been paying the bills for the all of us since the beginning. That's how we've been able to live like we did."

Raven frowned, "But we never got any of the extras. Beast Boy even got a job."

"It couldn't be conspicuous," Robin explained, "Otherwise the link between Bruce and I becomes rather clear and our identities would be rather easy to figure out. If fact, all of the money had to be sent through Alfr-"

Robin cut off very suddenly and his skin paled dramatically, making the contrast between his hair and flesh even greater. He took a deep breath and even though Raven couldn't see his eyes she could tell that they were closed. Raven looked away. Seeing Robin in that much pain seemed like an intrusion. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

Robin bit his tongue forcing himself to focus on the physical pain instead of the mental pain, and managed to avoid a breakdown...for the moment anyway. "It's fine," he answered brusquely.

He started heading down the street at a rather brisk pace, and after a moment Raven followed. Robin kept this up for quite a ways until they were within the business district of the city and Raven felt thoroughly lost. Enough of this, she thought, increasing her pace until she was alongside the masked boy. "Do you have any idea where we are?" she asked.

As an answer Robin made a sharp turn and ended inside of a hotel lobby. Raven watched for a moment and then decided to go ahead and follow, just to see what he was going to do next. The desk manager glanced up to see who was approaching the desk and then did a double take. Robin had forgotten that he was in his uniform.

"How may I help you?" The desk manager purred.

Robin produced a card from somewhere in his uniform as Raven stared in amazement. She didn't think that he could possibly hide anything in his uniform; it was fitted too tightly. Robin flung the card down on the shiny counter. "I'd like a room here for a week. Go ahead and charge it."

The desk manager seemed to notice Raven for the first time, standing a good fifteen feet behind the Boy Wonder. The man raised his eyebrows for a moment and a quick smile came to his lips, before he could suppress it. Robin didn't seem to notice, but Raven retaliated by sending him a glare cold enough to freeze his face.

The man's eyes grew with fright and he grabbed the card and headed into a back room. Raven walked forward and stopped just short of touching his shoulder. "I thought you didn't have any money," she hissed.

Without moving, Robin answered back, "It was Alfred who set up the account, I don't think Bruce is even aware of its existence. He won't have cut it off yet."

Sure enough the desk manager came back a moment later, with a happy smile for Robin and a scared, stiff one for Raven. "Everything is in order, sir. Normally we would need to see a form of ID, but for _you_," the man was clearly delighted at the idea of the two heroes staying at his hotel.

Robin swiped up the keys that the man had laid on the counter and walked away without saying a word. Raven waited until he was out of sight and then she turned to the man who was looking back at her with a worried expression on his face.

She took a step forward and her skin became inflamed in black fire. "If anyone finds out that we are here, or comes to see us, or if there are any pictures at all, then there will be _hell for you_," at the word 'hell' Raven's face was taken over by four shining red demon eyes.

The man was about ready to wet himself. "Of...yes-I...fuc..." the man stammered backing as far away from her as he could.

Raven let herself fade back to normal and stared at the shaking man for another moment before she headed after Robin. She didn't have keys or the room number, but he was sending out such strong vibrations of pain, anger, and guilt that he was easy to find. The room was shut, but not locked and Raven entered it locking it behind her.

Robin didn't even look up. Instead he had opened up a closet there and began pulling out the extra blankets and pillows. It was then that Raven noticed that there was only one bed. Which was fine. "What are you doing?" Raven asked carefully.

"I'm setting up a second bed," Robin answered shortly.

Raven sighed tiredly, "I can see that, but why? Or have you forgotten about your dreams?"

Robin stopped what he was doing and his fists clenched. "I want to be by myself right now."

"Isolating yourself only makes it worse than it already is," Raven answered, "believe me, I know."

When Robin spoke again his voice was low, "You have no idea."

* * *

_It_ _had been a horrible fight. Bruce was distraught, a state that Robin had never seen the man in before. He didn't weep, instead he yelled and sent furniture crashing. Raven stood quietly in the corner watching it all, while Robin stood with a pale face and a defeated posture. Raven could feel the projection of sorrow and shock emanating so strongly from the both of them that it made it difficult to breathe._

"_It was a mistake to let you stay here," Bruce said recklessly and his eyes flitted to Raven and then to Keya who was sitting near Raven, watching the whole display silently. _

_Raven could feel no emotions from Keya, the boy had already learned how to block his emotions from her. "You brought that demon child with you! He did this!" Bruce hissed._

"_The police said that it looked like he fell down the stairs," Robin replied desperately._

_Bruce stood up straight and stared Robin directly in the eye, "Alfred was an expertly trained man. He was kidnapped twenty-seven times and managed to escape each time on his own. Do you really think that he fell down some stairs?"_

_Robin couldn't say anything. Raven felt a particularly overpowering feeling of absolute sorrow break over Bruce. "It was a mistake to bring **you** here," Bruce said._

_Robin looked like he had been struck in the face. "You came back for the first time in years, expecting me to fix all your mistakes," Bruce continued, and Raven felt the sorrow replace itself with complete numbness and hollowness, "You have nothing to do with me anymore, you're no son of mine. Take your mistakes and leave this place."_

_With that Bruce turned and walked away, leaving Robin staring after him, pale and shocked._

_

* * *

_

"I know what it's like to be denied by a father," Raven said quietly.

She could feel Robin desperately fighting against the despair threatening to crush him. "I've lost two sets of parents, how many have you lost?"

"The only parent that I had died, and I wasn't lucky enough to get any others," Raven answered stoically, "I don't know why you want to blame this on me, but it isn't my fault. Stop fighting me."

Robin spun around and stared at her. Raven stayed still and stared right back. She felt a surge of anger, but then it faded out completely and with it Robin sank to the floor. He rested his elbows on his knees and held his head up with his hands, determinedly away from her. Raven sighed and crossed the distance between them to kneel by him. It wasn't until she put her hand on his shoulder that she could feel the slight shudders going through his body, the only sign that he was crying.

Raven hesitated and then she carefully wrapped her arms around him, though she doubted that he was even aware of her presence anymore, so deep was he absorbed into his own sorrow. Raven put a hand out and carefully peeled his mask off of his face, allowing the tears to fall freely down his face.

When Robin woke up it was nighttime and his eyes felt as dry as sandpaper, and he ached at the slightest movement. He was leaning against the bed still and was covered carefully with one of the extra blankets that he had sent flying to floor earlier. Raven was no longer at his side, instead she was sprawled out on her stomach, on the bed above him, one hand absentmindedly resting on his head, staring out the open window that faced the end of the bed.

When she saw that he was awake she allowed a small smile to appear on her face and she said, "Next time you have to sleep according to my schedule."

Robin didn't answer; instead he struggled to his feet as best he could with his throbbing head threatening his balance. Raven pushed herself up on the bed with a slight look of concern. "What are you doing, Robin?"

He stumbled a bit and winced at the pain this motion caused him. Raven stood in front of him and placed both of her palms against his temples. She mumbled her chant and instantly his his head cleared. But he still felt so weary and Raven could feel the defeat that was overwhelming him. Robin stayed there for a moment letting his head rest in her palms before he pushed her aside and headed into the shower.

When she heard the water start Raven felt that it was okay to leave. She headed down into the lobby of the hotel and was pleased to see the same worker manning the desk. He paled upon seeing her and tried to sneak into the back room, but Raven was at the counter before he could make it. "Yes?" he asked in a strained voice.

"My...roommate and I neglected to bring any extra clothing with us. Where can we get some?" Rave asked.

The man seemed to sweat slightly, "Actually the hotel carries some essentials for customers to buy if they forget anything at home. It's not open now," he gulped, "but I can easily open it for you."

Raven nodded. The man hesitated, "We only carry night clothing however. For everyday wear you'd have to go to a nearby store."

Raven frowned and the man hurried into the back and returned holding a large stack of night clothes. He lay the clothing on the counter and then quickly withdrew his arm as though she might grab him. Raven suppressed a smile and picked up the clothing. "Put it on the bill," she said before heading upstairs.

Robin was still in the shower and so Raven took the opportunity to go through the clothing. It was all ridiculously large, but Raven changed out of her regular clothing and into a pair of extremely baggy sweatpants and a huge nightshirt. It was comfortable at least. Raven took the rest of the clothing and dared to open the bathroom door just long enough to lay them on the counter.

She pulled back the covers on the bed and crawled underneath them. It had been an emotionally exhausting week. Well, month actually. And she had yet to talk to her emotions ever since her Nevermore mirror broke. It was the longest that she had ever gone without their advice. As she laid thinking about that she drifted to sleep.

Robin exited the bathroom in a cloud of steam dressed in the loose pants and short sleeved shirt that he had dug out of the pile of clothing he found on the counter. He was startled by the sight of Raven's small form under the covers. He walked closer.

She was lying on her side, one hand curled on her pillow beside her face. Maybe it was the baggy clothing she was wearing, but Robin was struck suddenly by how young and small she looked. He was struck by a feeling of protectiveness that Keya had never stirred him.

Exhausted he slipped underneath the covers and pulled Raven closer to him, turning her so that he could rest his hand on her shoulder and so that their legs touched under the covers. He was careful not touch too much of her, he had that presence of mind even in his current state.

Raven sighed in her sleep and rolled onto her back and pressed all of her side against him. Robin paused and then placed his arm around her stomach instead. He was shocked at how sharply her ribs jutted out and his arm tightened impulsively, so that his head now rested in her hair. He was so tired that he soon fell asleep too.

Both Robin and Raven slept for the next day, occasionally waking up to use the restroom or drink something. But for the most part they slept as though they were bogged down with blinding exhaustion that had to be satisfied.

Robin was the first one to truly wake up and when he did it was to find Raven pressed tightly against his chest. He waited awhile for her to wake up, but when she didn't, he quietly slipped out from under her and got dressed. He headed down into the lobby and stopped at the front desk to order some food to be brought up their room. He instructed them not to knock, but just to leave the food right inside the door. Then he headed out.

The cemetery was a calm, peaceful one. The overseers did an excellent job of maintenance and had done their best to keep the cemetery as cheerful as possible. Normally he would appreciate the effort, but today Robin felt a need to be sad and melancholy. He walked through random headstones not really paying attention to where he was. He finally picked two graves and sat down in front of them.

Robin didn't bother to read the inscriptions on the graves or even to really look at them. Instead he took deep breaths, struggling to retain some of the sweet calmness exuded by the place. Several hours went by and the sun started to set. Suddenly he could feel the presence of someone behind him. He didn't turn, he could already tell who it was.

Raven walked up slowly beside him. She was dressed, not in her costume or night clothes, but some other pedestrian clothing. The nearby stores had been willing to let her send the bill to the hotel, which was slightly unorthodox, but hell, she was a super hero after all. Raven stared at the graves that Robin was sitting in front of. "Please tell me that your parents weren't named Lucille and Jessica," she said.

Robin glanced up at the stones and then back down again, "No, these aren't their graves. They don't have any headstones."

"Why?" Raven asked, settling down on the grass next to him.

Robin sighed, "When they died, the circus had custody of their bodies and they had them cremated. Later on Bruce tried to get ahold of their remains for me, but the circus denied that they had anything," Robin paused, silent for a moment, "I'm not sure where they are, if they got lost, or are in the back of someone's closet, or..." he faded out and shrugged, "It sucks not having their bodies."

Raven nodded towards the two gravestones, "So you use these?"

Robin nodded, "I like to go through cemeteries and find a couple of peaceful looking ones. I imagine that they are in a place like this," he laughed bitterly, "though they probably are stuffed into the back of closet somewhere, completely forgotten."

Raven let the silence stretch out. Some people were afraid of the quiet, but it was a comfortable silence between the two of them. She moved closer to him and finally broke the silence. "It's different to hear you sound bitter. You were always the one that would encourage all of us," except on your bad days, Raven added silently.

Looking back it was easy to tell that Robin had down times when no one wanted to be around him. He masked it a lot through endless hours of research or travels to train further, or hours in the training room. But then there were also days when he would just turn up the volume of his music and would ignore everyone nearby.

Robin seemed to know what she was thinking. "I've tried," he said softly.

Raven fought against her inner turmoil and placed her hand on his wrist, fingers encircling the bone. Robin lifted his hand from the ground and took her hand in his own. Her hands were cold, he noted, and he turned towards her, resting his head on his pulled up knees to look at her.

"Did you eat today?" he asked.

Raven was still looking off across the cemetery. "No," she answered, "I wasn't hungry."

Robin frowned a bit, "You've got to eat, Raven. I had them send up food."

"Did you eat?" Raven asked finally turning to him.

It was Robin's turn to look away, "No," he admitted, "I wasn't feeling hungry."

Raven laughed sardonically and laid her head on his shoulder. Robin was surprised by the gesture, but recovered quickly. "We certainly know how to take care of ourselves, don't we?" she said ironically.

He winced slightly. Raven felt it and reached another hand out to touch his cheek. It ended up turning her slightly and when Robin looked up his face was centimeters away from hers. The wind whipped through the cemetery making both of them shiver. The sun had gone down. Raven's fingers slid up Robin's arm until she was almost leaning on him and it moved them even closer together.

Raven drew in a breath and with it she seemed to draw Robin's face in the final step to hers. Her lips pressed against his, her hand was in his hair, his hands were on her waist and her arm. Robin closed his eyes. It was such bliss to lose himself to this sensation, this oneness and to not have to feel alone.

Raven shivered as another icy blast of wind shuddered through the cemetery, and Robin pulled her closer to him, as though he could shelter her from the cold. Several moments went by with only the wind making any noise. They finally broke apart and Raven walked a few steps away from Robin and turned.

Robin stood and stared at Raven for a moment. He could feel and see her mentally and physically shutting down, locking him out again. He took the few steps that would close the distance between them, grabbed her arm, and turned her around.

"Stop hiding from me," he said quietly, "Stop doing this, shutting down all the time. You know how you feel, Raven," he paused, trying to catch her eyes, her gaze, "You know how I feel, you've known it since you were first in my mind."

Robin let go of her wrist and cupped her face within his hands and dropped his head closer to hers, "Do we have to pay Slade's price for all our lives?" he demanded, finally catching her eyes and then deliberately bringing his lips on hers again.

Raven didn't answer and she didn't relax. Robin held her neck firmly and begged her with his eyes. Finally Robin felt her melt against him and they closed their eyes once again.

* * *

It was the most peaceful week that either of them had spent in a long time. They rarely felt the need to leave the hotel room or even to really speak. Daytime was spent lounging around, reading some newly purchased books or staring out at the city. Nighttime was different. Under the cover of the darkness they could talk and hold each other. 

It wasn't until night that Robin could let himself feel the sadness over Alfred's death and Bruce's rejection. Raven would just listen to him and touch him. She told him that Bruce was acting out of shock and that once some time went by he and Robin would start to get along again.

Robin was delighted in the way that Raven was acting, finally opening up. There were moments when she would still stiffen up and clench her fists, but she wouldn't pull away from him. Instead she would just stay where she was and wait for the momentary panic to loosen and fade.

And the nights they would spend together...

* * *

The week passed quickly, much too quickly for Robin's taste, and they were heading back to see Keya again. It was a sad time for Robin, it meant that this semi dream world that he and Raven were living in was going to end, and they would have to deal with reality again. 

It was one of the doctors that was came to talk to Robin and Raven. The doctors employed by the Justice League were the best in the world and they were paid exorbitant amounts of money for their service and their silence. This particular doctor was a woman with short gray hair and small glasses. She led them to a room with an observational two way mirror. Inside was Keya.

Raven gasped when she saw Keya. He now appeared to be fifteen years old. He was small and lithe and pale, with skin that was more white than gray and black hair that fell silkily to his shoulders. His eyes were blue, but it was Raven's eye shape that was predominate. It seemed odd to think of him as a child of Robin and Raven's now. Instead he just seemed like a melding of the two.

The doctor began speaking, "After a week of observation, this is what he have found.

"Kartikeya has not slept in all of the time since his admittance, nor does he require meditation. He was fed on a regular basis, but the food given to him was untouched. All that he requested during his time here was reading materials.

"A test on his blood showed that he is one fourth demon, but there seems to be a large component that we were unable to identify. The powers displayed by the child include; empathy, regeneration, telekinesis, advanced; speed, hearing, sight. Kartikeya's intelligence is uncharted, he has displayed a photographic memory.

"As for the aging-" the doctor was suddenly cut off by the door opening.

A man with a strong chin, dressed in a suit was standing in the doorway. Raven didn't know him, but Robin seemed to recognize him instantly. The man motioned for the doctor to leave, which she promptly did, a frown on her face. "What going on, Cla-"

"Listen Robin," the man said seriously, "I have some bad news," he took a deep breath, "Bruce is dead."

Robin instantly stiffened and his mind emptied entirely. The man continued, "It happened last night. Bruce went out on a patrol. Something went wrong with his equipment and he ended up falling. He had his communicator, but without Alfred on the other end he couldn't reach anybody and," the man paused and took a deep breath, "he ended up bleeding to death before anyone found him. We're changing the story to help protect his identity, but I thought you should know the truth."

Robin turned away from the man and rested his hands on the glass window. He was breathing hard and shaking. The man looked questioningly at Raven and she shook her head so he turned and left. Raven could feel powerful waves of some sort of emotion coming off of Robin. She moved towards him hesitantly.

"Last night," Robin repeated, "He was laying there, helpless and dying. And what was I doing? What were _we_ doing?" the fine trembling in his arms became more pronounced, "He was fine the last time I saw him. Everything was fine when we showed up."

Raven took a step towards him, "Robin, there's nothing you could have done. He was far away."

"I owed him everything. Everything in the world. And what do I bring to him..."

Robin turned suddenly and a painful rage was clear on his face. "Bruce was right! This is because of Keya! It's all his fault, his damn fault!"

"Keya had nothing to do with this, Robin, he was here the entire time!" Raven began in a loud voice, but she was drowned out by Robin.

"He would have been fine it wasn't for you! You and your poisoned blood!" Robin shouted, his anger and breath-stealing pain blinding him.

Raven froze completely. She seemed to choke for a moment and then she took several steps back. It was just as she had always thought. She was a demon, a monster, undeserving of love. Even Robin was denying her because of her inhumanity.

Robin turned and stomped quickly out of the room without a single backwards glance to Raven or his son. Raven turned her emotions off and walked silently to the window to look down. Keya was sitting on the edge of the bed staring right back at her.

* * *

Please Review.  



	5. The Darkest Hour is Midnight

Disclaimer: Once more, same as before.

* * *

Quote: 

"Staring at my own reflection

when suddenly it changes,

violently it changes."

Down with the Sickness, Disturbed

Chapter 5

Darkest Hour is at Midnight

* * *

Raven stood staring at the doors of the Tower. It hadn't been that long since she was last here, but it seemed like a lifetime ago. She mentally checked herself and was reassured that she looked no different than when she had left. The team wouldn't know anything. Raven took a deep breath and walked inside the doors. 

Cyborg had been in the process of walking through the kitchen and Starfire had been napping on the couch. Cyborg caught sight of Raven and he froze, his mouth pressed firmly shut. Starfire shifted in her sleep and sat up. She took one look at Raven in the doorway and squealed. Faster than Raven could even see, Starfire had her in a bone crushing hug. "You are back!"

Raven struggled free of Starfire's suffocating embrace and saw Beast Boy who had run down the hallway. He opened his mouth in an exclamation that died on his lips as his eyes focused on something that was behind her. Starfire looked behind Raven and her face turned bright red. "Who is that?" she asked.

Raven turned to introduce to Keya. Like always she was startled at the sight of him. He looked to be easily seventeen or eighteen with long silky black hair, pale skin, and huge blue eyes. He was breathtaking in an almost feminine way with a clearly intense expression. "Robin and I have been out scouting for more members, and we...found this one. His name is Keya, and he's a telekinetic."

"Like you?" Cyborg asked, suspicion clear on his face.

Raven glanced back at Keya, who was gazing at Cyborg with no expression on his face. She wished that she could feel his emotions. "Kind of like me," she answered.

Starfire floated up to him and took one of his hands in hers as a way of greeting. "Welcome friend Keya! Would you like to come and join in the pudding making of home returns?"

Keya shook his hand out of hers and stepped past her to stand in front of Raven. His eyes narrowed slightly. "Raven," he said clearly, the first time he had not called her mother, "Is there a library here?"

Starfire seemed confused and then her face turned red and her eyes turned down. She stopped floating and took a couple of steps back. There was an awkward silence in the air. Raven turned to Cyborg, "What room can we put him in?" she asked.

Cyborg's eyes betrayed his suspicion and irritation, "There are none prepared. I didn't know that we had anything to prepare for."

Keya spoke again, only to Raven. "I don't need a room, I need a library."

"There's one on the second level. Go ahead," Raven answered.

Keya didn't bother looking at anyone else, and he didn't seem to need directions. Instead he just walked out of the room. Raven tried to follow his progress with her mind, but he let nothing out and she lost track of him. The other three were still in the room and they were staring at her.

"Where's Robin?" Cyborg asked.

Raven's heart skipped a beat. "He's still off scouting. I'm tired. I'm going to my room."

Raven quickly fled the living room and her teammates' eyes.

* * *

Robin sat in the devastatingly familiar office of Bruce in the Wayne manor, trying to pay attention as one of the man's lawyers read through a will. He shifted restlessly in the clothing that he was wearing, and he felt slightly uneasy at having people see him without his mask while neither Bruce or Alfred were present. 

Robin let his thoughts drift briefly in the direction of the funeral. He hadn't been there for Alfred's, Bruce hadn't allowed him, but he had attended Bruce's only six hours ago. The church had been absolutely packed and it overflowed into the streets. All of the older superheroes who knew Bruce's identity had been there, and there was the fact that Bruce had been a billionaire humanitarian who had donated millions to charities.

And Robin had sat at the front of the church, watching it all. The whole procession had just kind of faded out of his head and he could feel his memories of the circus floating to the surface. The crowds were back, people in full dress, heavily made up women, awaiting the entertainment. Robin physically shook his head free of the memories and turned his tired eyes back to the lawyer.

Bruce had not yet changed his will at the time of his death which made Richard Grayson the sole benefactor of several billion dollars and an empire to manage. Bruce had left painstaking notes of exactly what was to be done and what was not allowed and Robin had to sit through all of it. He wondered briefly if any of the lawyers present knew the true identity of Bruce. Probably not.

* * *

Raven slept for several hours. It seemed like the hotel was such a long time ago and she hadn't slept well since then. Her mind seemed to swirl with thoughts and heavy images of everything that had happened. She reached out with her link to try and feel Robin, but all she could feel was his depression, so thick that it threatened to suck everything inside of it. 

She got up and began heading to the kitchen to make herself some tea. Tea had caffeine in it and with the caffeine came a release of endorphins that always helped to soothe her mind and block out the negativity. It was something that she had discovered not long after coming to earth, and it turned into a habit that she could no longer break.

Raven put a kettle on the stove, allowing it to simmer while she pulled out a mug. No one else in the Tower drank tea besides her. The kettle, mugs, and teas were all bought specifically for her. She stood quietly musing, when a hand reached out and grabbed Raven's wrist.

She gasped in surprise and drew back. It was Keya. He was the only one in the world that could sneak up on her. He was the only one that could block her out. Keya seemed sad, his eyes big and damp.

"Keya?" Raven whispered.

"I can't stay here Mother," Keya said mournfully, "It won't work. I've tried it."

Raven put a hand up to his face and caressed the side of it. "What's wrong Keya? What have you been trying?"

"I can't _not_ be," Keya said his eyes becoming more intense and he locked his gaze with hers, "I cannot _not_ exist. I've tried."

Raven froze, "Not exist? What have you been-"

Keya shut his eyes, effectively closing Raven out again. She looked at him, worried. What was going on? Suddenly, faster than Raven could follow with her eyes, the kettle was hit off of the burner and her hand was forced into the flames.

Raven froze for a moment and then her hand spasmed as the flames engulfed it, white hot pain roiling through her flesh. Keya held her wrist firmly in place and opened his eyes. They were flooded with light until the blue was not even discernible. He smiled and a voice left his mouth that sounded different than his own.

"Do you know what Kartikeya means, Raven?" he hissed, putting a hand on her chin and forcing her to look at him and ignore her burning hand, "Do you know the real story of Kartikeya?"

Raven could feel her flesh bubbling and breaking with the most intense pain that she had ever experienced. "Kartikeya was born of the Shiva, the destroyer, and he was born with the single purpose of eliminating the demon," his hand caught her other wrist and switched the one in the flames for the one new one, "that was terrorizing the earth."

Keya paused in his story, the light still flashing in his eyes, to smile at Raven's reaction. He took both of her wrists in his and grabbed the container of salt that was kept near the stove and emptied it into Raven's broken and bleeding palms. Her fingers convulsed and tears ran freely down her cheeks.

Keya smiled. "And the people _adored_ him. They prayed to him, thanking him for his destruction of the _demon_," with that last word he closed his fists around hers, forcing the salt to go inside the burns and the mutilation of her hands to be complete.

He leaned closer in to her, his voice even further distorted, "I'm a different god, _mother_."

Suddenly his eyes lost their light and Keya stumbled back from her. He was breathing hard and choking. Raven collapsed to the floor in a writhing agony, her bloody hands held close to her chest. Keya bent close to her and then picked her up carefully, struggling not to jar her hands. He sat her on the couch, kissed her cheek, and then was gone.

Raven struggled to breathe, but she could feel her heart breaking. She had tried so hard. She had done everything that she possibly could have. She had ignored the suspicions, the signs. Raven had done it all right, it should have turned out differently than this!

She winced and let out a ragged breath. Her hands! She needed them, they were her focal points for her powers, it was how she channeled her power. What could she possibly do without her hands?

Raven clenched her teeth to keep from screaming as she forced herself up off the couch and headed to the door. As she stumbled outside, Raven struggled to open the link between herself and Robin. She needed his help so much right now.

But Raven couldn't concentrate. Normally it would have been easy, but she couldn't keep her mind focused. Instead she sent wave after wave of strong emotion crashing towards him, but she couldn't form thoughts. Except for one. She needed to get to Keya.

But Keya could be anywhere. How could she possibly find him when he had the entire world at his disposal? Her mind seemed to slide back and forth, churning violently until suddenly one large image loomed in her mind.

The warehouse. Slade would be in the warehouse...

...Raven began walking and when she looked up again she was there. It startled her, she didn't remember even heading in the right direction, much less traveling far enough to be there. Raven shuddered disjointedly, but walked into the warehouse anyway...

Instantly a million images flooded her mind, some of them her own, some of them Robin's, and some of them Keya's...

...She could see Alfred clutching his heart, could see the nurses gazing at her with stark curiosity in their eyes...

... She could see herself lying on the floor with a collar on her neck, could see a white corpse in a black coffin...

...She could feel the pain in her own hands griping each other and she let go with a start. Raven looked around her and was shocked again. She was in the middle of a room, she wasn't sure how she got there...

Where was Keya? She needed to find him. It was very important to find him.

Raven swayed on her feet and walked towards a wall that was covered in a large dark stain. She made her eyes focus on the long dried words. 'Look behind you'.

She began turning, but a blow to the back of the head made her hit the wall and slide down it. She was laying on the floor when a sudden sharp pain pierced her back. A knife in the back. Two hands reached down and pulled her up, throwing her across their shoulder and walking into a doorway that appeared suddenly.

Raven had memories of this room, but she couldn't...

Raven was thrown back down to the ground, harshly, the blood from the knife in her back soaking her leotard and cloak. Her hands scraped against the rough ground and had she any air, Raven would have screamed. A hand reached down and gathered her hair, yanking her head up.

"Look at that," a soft voice murmured to her, "Like father, like son."

Raven struggled valiantly to focus her eyes ahead of her. Keya was bound to a wall. The same black cords that had held Robin in place now held Keya. He didn't struggle. Instead he let himself lie slumped within the confines of the cords, his eyes flashing light still.

Rave tried to move from where she was, to go to her son, but she couldn't. It was Slade, Deathstroke, who held her head in place and with his other hand he pressed the knife deeper into her back, causing her to cough up blood in sharp painful motions.

"Thank you for taking such good care of...what did you call him? Kartikeya, for me. I've needed him very badly, and with you three hidden away I was having a horrible time. But now he's here for me," Deathstroke said silkily, letting go of Raven's hair and standing up.

"What do you want?" Raven choked out.

Deathstroke paused to study her, "I'm going to kill him. I need his energy," he contemplated Raven's still confused face and he sighed, "He's not real you know. Why do you think he doesn't like being touched? He is simply an incarnation of power, an ancient power. It is in the physical form of your son, but it is merely power."

Keya slid in and out of focus in front of Raven's eyes and she struggled to swallow. He wasn't real? Is that why she couldn't feel him with her mind? But he was real! She had held him, and saved him, and when he had kissed her cheek it _had_ been real!

Deathstroke seemed to be reading her mind. "He's been struggling. Your son is in there, but since the day he was born he was losing the battle with himself, with his power. I'm here to unleash it to the world."

Keya's eyes lost the light that was in them and he looked around the room seeing Raven for the first time. His mind opened up to hers and a voice whispered in her mind, "Use my blood when I am dead, mother."

Keya's eyes were opened wide and two tears traced down his cheeks. Then his eyes flashed again and he was gone. Raven could feel the last remnant of Keya's personality leave and disappear. He was already dead, even if his body was still alive.

Deathstroke frowned at the inert figure slumped against the wall and he walked towards it pulling out a knife as he walked. Then without warning, before Raven could prepare herself for the shock, Deathstroke had jammed the knife through the center of Keya's neck, until the tip of the blade showed through the other side, dripping a single drop of dark red blood.

She could feel it as though it had passed through her own neck, a choking cold yet sharp sensation, that left her hands scrabbling at the ground despite the further pain that it inflicted. A wave of pure power pulsed through the room and Deathstroke seemed to revel in it.

He raised his head as though to drink it in and Raven could see the deep scar on his throat. Some of the power gathered on his throat, outlining the scar until it melded back into his skin, invisible. "There," he breathed deeply, "It is not possible that the other little birdie missed this. How could he have not felt that wave?"

Raven could feel herself entering the beginning stages of unconsciousness and she fought against it. Deathstroke smiled at Raven, "I found it humorous when he accused _you_ of having the poisoned blood. I thought he was smarter than that."

Deathstroke walked over to Raven and twisted the knife that was in her back, making her scream and he grabbed her head and pressed her lips against his own. "Just for good measure," he said, licking the blood that had passed from her mouth to his, "I thought your last memory on earth should be a good one. Have fun in hell."

Deathstroke left the room, power outlining his form until he almost floated. The instant he left the black cords disintegrated and Keya's body fell, sprawled out on the floor, his head near Raven's own. Somehow ignoring the pain it caused she reached for his head and held it gently in her hands. Blood leaked from his mouth and a few drops slid down his cheeks and onto her fingers..

The places where his warm blood touched healed instantly, her mutilated hands reforming, the skin knitting itself back together. She remembered his last words, about the blood. She touched trembling fingers to the blood on his lips and then pressed those fingers to her lips-kissing them. The headache was gone as the bruises on her face faded.

The knife still pierced her back and now she reached out with her black magic and yanked it from her flesh.

The blood poured freely down her pale skin and Raven wavered, almost losing consciousness at the last second. She gave a strangled sob as she gently pressed a hand to the blood that had pooled beneath Keya's body and then let the drops slid down her back. The knife would closed at the first touch.

Even with all of her injuries healed she felt so weak and powerless. Keya's lifeless face lay in her lap and Raven couldn't help the hot tears that dripped down her face and onto his. He had been born without a chance, he had been even more cursed than she had been. Raven leaned over him and took both of his arms, placing them over his chest and she pressed her blood coated lips to his forehead.

Once Raven's lips touched his head he began to disappear, his body melting into the air until it was just Raven alone in the room, crying bitterly.

* * *

Robin was atop one of the tallest buildings in Gotham City. He had traded his usual stoplight costume for one that he had found in the innards of the Wayne Manor. Batman was dead, but Gotham still needed to be protected.

He was beginning to wonder if he should ever return to the Titans. His one real friend at the Tower had betrayed him and now probably hated him. Robin mentally cursed himself for his hasty words towards Raven, yet at the same time he refused to recant them. It was her fault. She was the one that had tainted their child and made him evil.

Robin's insides froze slightly at the mention of his son. He had felt some affection for the child when he was first born, but... Robin was fine with the different people, he lived with four non-humans, but he didn't feel right around Keya. When he was given the choice of which he would rather lose in the river, he chose to let Keya die. It hadn't happened of course, but the point was still there.

Robin moved from the top of the building to another rooftop. He walked along the edge, a careful balance beam. It didn't matter anyway, Keya could take care of himself. But what about Raven? A small voice whispered in his head.

"Shut up," he said out loud.

* * *

Raven slowly picked herself up off of the floor and staggered over to a wall. She was tired, so tired. Her mind was fuzzy, but her head hurt as though a spike had gone through it. Raven moaned as she put a hand to the wall, struggling to stay upright. What was happening? 

She tried to piece together what was going on, but she didn't seem to be running on in real time. Her mind kept blanking out and she seemed to be moving much slower than time was actually going.

Her hands ached, and her back hurt, even with the wounds gone. Raven suspected that they would always hurt. None of this pain would ever fully go away.

"Robin," Raven murmured, a slight plea in her voice.

She opened her link to him and tried to feel his presence, but it was obstructed. There was something in the way. Raven flinched and shut her eyes, trying to concentrate harder, but it didn't work.

A slightly hysterical sob forced it's way out of her throat. Raven could feel a huge obstruction in her throat that barely allowed her to breathe. She bit the inside of her lip until she tasted blood.

Don't cy. If you start crying now than you won't be able to stop. You'll cry until you shatter, and you can't do that right now!

She shuddered as her body threatened to melt into a torrent of never ending tears.

* * *

Robin was struggling against the wave that crashed through him upsetting every balance, every emotion. He tried carefully to regain his sense of competency, but a strange feeling was beginning to form, a first it was a warmth emanating from his ribs and then it spread, just below his skin. 

His head started throbbing with a now familiar painful rhythm. Robin clutched at his head with his hands, his fingers curling into his hair, nearly ripping it out with the spasms of pain now racing through him.

What the hell...?

Robin blacked out.

* * *

Raven could feel Robin, she could feel his sense of warmth and power, almost like a heat sensing radar, and her direction changed so that she was heading towards him. She couldn't fly, she was much too imbalanced for that. Instead she was running, moving with a speed almost too fast to follow with mortal eyes. 

He was near Robin. She knew it.

* * *

A sudden wave of terror pulsed through him, terror and pain. Robin stumbled backwards, his foot scraping against the edge of the building. He knelt down and grasped the edge struggling to maintain his grip on the ledge. The pain and terror continued to pulse through him, getting stronger and stronger each time. 

Then for some inexplicable reason it began to fade. His breathing had almost returned to normal and his hand felt cut by the edge of the concrete ledge from where he had been gripping so tightly. "What the hell?" he whispered.

He really needed to cut his bond with Raven. Robin could hardly sleep at night for all the visions, images, and emotions that he felt pouring in from Raven's side of the link. He ignored the slight twinge of guilt that he felt when he remembered how she had actually used their link in order to quell his nightmarish visions. I wouldn't have been having them if not for her! He thought harshly.

Then Robin felt it. A wave of energy pushing past in such a huge wave that it seemed to tear through his skin and leave him breathless. His hands spasmed on the concrete. As the energy pulsated through his body he collapsed on the cool pavement and then rolled to the side.

He was falling, but he didn't seem to really notice it at all. Robin could swear that he could almost see the buildings waver with the sea of energy. He was nearing closer to the ground when his eyes finally blinked shut.

* * *

_She needed to get to Robin. Everything would be okay if she could get to Robin._

* * *

His eyes were heavy and when he opened them he felt himself struggling through a thick haze. The cold stone table, he could feel it through the thin cloth covering his back. As he worked against his own sluggish body he realized that he was restrained, held down on the table. Robin let his heavy head fall back on the table and tried breathing deeply. 

His recognition of this room was only from that of a dream. But at the same time, there was something infinitely familiar about the place. He had been here before, and felt these sensations, instead of simply observing them.

Robin groaned. His head ached, a pulsing, throbbing pain that seemed to be becoming more familiar with each passing day. He saw a figure move, alerted to his newfound consciousness. "I see you are awake...Robin," a chillingly cold voice said.

It took Robin's slow mind far too long to recognize the voice. Slade. It was Slade. Robin forced his tired eyes to focus on the man, and was surprised to see Slade wearing a different uniform. Then he remembered. "Wait," he mumbled, "You're dead, you are supposed to be dead."

Deathstroke chuckled lightly, "So you did discover that old carcass of mine," Deathstroke moved a bit closer to Robin, "You of all people should understand that the end of a body is not the end of a soul. I still have business left."

Robin blinked a couple of times. He had questions to ask, many questions, but he was so slow and dull. Deathstroke seemed to know this and he smiled unpleasantly, "Oh, are you tired Robin? Let me tell you a bedtime story."

Robin offered a bit of resistance to his restraints, but it was pointless. He looked back at Slade and was shocked to see the man pulling on a dark robe, just like in...

"The dream," Robin managed.

"It wasn't a dream, Robin. Those were memories. Let me get comfortable. It's a long story," Deathstroke's one eye glinted.

* * *

Raven stumbled through the rooms of the warehouse, trying to find her way out. It was difficult, since she hadn't really been aware of anything the last two times that she had entered. She was so low on energy that her powers were almost useless, but she could feel Robin's location and a never ending message being replayed in her mind. _Everything will be alright once you find Robin_. 

She wandered down a long hallway, groaning at the strain that it was putting on her. Raven almost lost her balance and she ended up leaning hard against the wall, taking big breaths. _Everything will be alright once you find Robin._

Suddenly Raven realized that she was being held up by strong arms. A voice was speaking to her persistently. She blinked slowly as a face cleared in front of her. "Cyborg?"

* * *

"Once, a long time ago, there was a disease on the earth," Deathstroke spoke slowly in carefully measured syllables, "It was a potent epidemic, striking down millions of people when there were not millions to spare. Entire cities and civilizations were lost, completely erased from the world and from history. It was a time of great despair and tragedy." 

Slade paused and his mouth formed a small smile. "The people on this planet were willing to do anything in order to make this...sickness stop. So they did what humans haven done every single time they find themselves in over their heads. They called out to the gods...And some of the gods answered.

"This was a time when the gods walked the earth and to call upon their power was an easy thing to do. Do you remember that Robin? Do you remember the ceremony? They took a pregnant girl's body, one who had died from the sickness and they beat the life back into her. They beat her belly until life stirred, but it was not real life this time. The woman was long dead, her child had died before birth, had never even taken one breath of air, which made it the perfect container for the god that they wished to call forth."

Deathstroke was carefully studying Robin's face, searching for some sign of realization. There wasn't one. Deathstroke frowned, "It was a success, a child was born of death, do you not remember? It was you."

* * *

Cyborg picked Raven up and held her in his arms, trying to hide is shock. "Are you okay, Raven?" Cyborg asked her loudly. 

Raven appeared to be slightly dazed, but what really troubled Cyborg was the fact that Raven was completely soaked in blood. Her hair, her uniform, even her boots seemed to be coated. The blood was in various stages of drying on her skin. "Raven?" Cyborg asked again.

She wasn't wounded, not physically as far as he could tell. Cyborg tried to set her down again, but she wavered on her feet and started to collapse. "Whoa, hold up," he murmured under his breath as he picked her up again.

"Get me out of here," she mumbled, "I've got to find Robin."

* * *

Robin stared at the clearly insane man above him. What was he talking about? Robin wasn't any older than seventeen, he was definitely far too young to be the child in the memory. Deathstroke put out a hand to Robin's face and caressed it gently, a slight snarl on his face. "Are you really that stupid? Do you not question the origins of everyone around you? Clearly this physical body that you are in is not the same one that was born all those years around, but your soul Deathstroke. You've got an ancient soul. Can you not feel it in your very bones?" 

Robin blinked his eyes and struggled to say something, but nothing would come out. Deathstroke continued, "You were born a god, Robin. Your original purpose was good and I suppose that stayed true. After all, haven't you been fighting to do good your entire life? But your methods of taking care of the epidemic were...frowned upon."

Deathstroke suddenly leaned forward so that he was face to face with Robin. "You killed them. You killed everyone who had ever been in contact with the disease. You simply obliterated all of them off the face of the earth. And you ruled the world, Robin!"

Deathstroke sat back as though exhausted and he breathed a small sigh. "But all good things must end. Your physical form failed you, as it did all the other divinities walking the earth.

"You've had many different forms throughout the ages, and varying life, but your soul is still the same. You've been dormant for so long. The ages passed and the people forgot that they ever even known you. You forgot who you were. Your soul slept within your spirit."

Deathstroke paused as though thinking to himself, "Pure power can wake you. Power is what corrupts all men, and it is what you fed off of. A sacrifice of supreme power is what is needed to wake you, to wake the god within you.

"But where could I possibly find a sacrifice of such pure power? I've tried a few different kinds. Jinx was the remnant of a goddess, but her power is not strong enough. Mere fireworks, her soul is long dead. I sent her into battle and she lost. Lost easily too, she is nothing without her partners. The spirit of Kalika is wasted on her."

Deathstroke frowned recalling the bitter memory.

"I also tried Terra. She was such a source of raw, untrained power. And she was a willing subject too. Her soul had remained almost entirely unaged, but in the end, she retreated and lost nearly all of her power. And now she is frozen. Her spirit is probably the only divinity to be truly defeated. She walks no more on this earth.

"So then I started looking at the other side. I had tried one from the dark side, and the neutral side. I had thought it a waste of time to look at any of those on the good side. And I fell upon the titans.

"Starfire was an alien and utterly useless to me. Her soul is nothing like those found here on earth and once hers is gone, it will never rise again. Cyborg suffers a similar problem. He is not an alien, but he is mortal, pure mortal.

"Beast Boy was interesting. He suffered through experiments that would have killed anyone else and that is what first drew my attention. He has an old soul, a slightly darker one. He could cross over, his primal instincts could take over him, but in the end he proved far too weak.

"I even tried you yourself. But...it didn't work out well enough. I could get the darkness that was within your soul, but you kept it closed so very tightly that the entire thing was a waste of time. I ended up letting you go then. I have no interest in you as person, only what your soul can do for me."

Deathstroke suddenly smiled, a look as bitter as his frown.

"And then I discovered my dear little Raven."

* * *

Cyborg had Raven buckled inside of the T Car and he got in on the other side. He would take her back to the Tower and get her treated. He didn't know where Robin was, but once Robin came back Cyborg would make sure to beat the hell out of him. He must have done something. Or maybe it was that stupid new guy, Keya. 

Cyborg put the car in drive and started back to the Tower going full speed. Raven flinched in her seat and opened her eyes again. "Robin! I need to find Robin! Keya's...He's..." her eyes focused on Cyborg, "I can't tell _you _anything! Robin is the only one that knows!"

* * *

"Raven's soul predates all except for your own, boy. And her consent wasn't needed, for it turned out that there were much easier ways to control her. Imagine my delight when I discovered that she was a portal to her father. Trigon is not stronger than she is, but his physical form is something that would serve us well. 

"But that plan also backfired. Raven proved to be much too strong, and she was able to defeat both Trigon and myself. But the immortal soul never dies, right? Raven had retained too much of her own soul, and had been taught far too well by those damn monks of Azarath. She was not controllable by myself or by Trigon.

"But I've never taken no too well and I started thinking about my other options. A child. A child of Raven's old knowledgeable soul, and Robin's completely dormant one. What a perfect combination. Children are malleable, easily swayed. And when he was born he was pure power. But your spirits were already inhabiting bodies, so it was a pure and untouched infant that wielded this.

"Poor Keya, he really had no chance. He realized what was happening, and what his purpose was and he spent hours upon hours researching, struggling to find a solution, some loophole in this work. But there was none. He couldn't withstand pressure. His tendency was leaning more and more towards violent power. He certainly took after his parents."

Deathstroke stopped again and his face twisted into a cruel expression as he held up a blood coated knife.

"I freed this power. I stole it from its human core, and now a new spirit is racing loose from the land. It will awaken us. It will bring to light all of the powers of the world and the gods and goddesses will reign the earth once more. And I will be rewarded most of all for bringing them back."

Deathstroke stood straight and looked out towards the darkness and then he looked back down at Robin. Robin was twitching, his face contorting. Slade smiled, "The power is near isn't it? You can feel it under your skin. Soon you'll shed this body and be free. All of you will be."

Deathstroke leaned over Robin's face and pressed lips to Robin's skin, "One last gift from Raven," Deathstroke laughed as he stood back up, tracing the bloody knife over Robin's flesh.

Robin gasped as he felt something take hold of him. Not of his body, but something else, something deeper. His whole body shook and his skin grew warmer to the touch. He could feel pain as something from within was scrabbling to emerge.

* * *

Review Please. 


	6. Reincarnated Power

Warning: Violence. 

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

P.S. There are in bold dream images, it's easy to skip over, but please read it, it is important.

* * *

Quote: 

"The gods, likening themselves to all kinds of strangers, go in various disguises from city to city, observing the wrongdoing and the righteousness of men."

-Homer, The Odyssey

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

-Abraham Lincoln

Chapter 6

Reincarnated Power

* * *

Raven could feel something inside of her awaken and take charge. Her breathing slowed then ceased altogether. Cyborg noticed something happening and slammed on the brakes. Raven was jerked forward as was Cyborg. He turned to Raven to see if she was okay, but gasped instead. 

She was glowing a faint blue color, fog rising off of her as her temperature lowered. Raven's eyes were closed and her lips turned blue. The blood that stained her cheeks and pale flesh became a a darker color and took on the hue of deep ocean water.

Cyborg reached out a hand. "Raven?" he questioned worriedly.

Raven's eyes snapped open and her amethyst eyes had melded into the color of ice. The fog coming off of her increased and her hair grew and waved and swayed in the fog. She turned her head to stare at Cyborg and when she opened her mouth more fog was released.

"Good morning," a cold voice said, leaving Raven's mouth.

Cyborg gaped at her. She reached out a frozen hand to touch his face and where her fingers touched, ice formed. "What a lovely day to be alive."

Raven stretched languidly and the air around her wavered. Her eyes flicked eastward and a slight smile graced her lips. "He's awake."

Raven walked right through her seat belt and the door of the car, stepping out into the sunshine. She had her hands at her side and when she turned them so the palms faced up her body rose in the air, not flying so much as floating. Ice formed beneath her feet and she rested on it twenty feet in the air. "I'm coming, my lord."

* * *

Beast Boy's nap on the couch was interrupted and he was instantly alert. There was a radiation of pain swirling from deep within his body. He flinched as he heard the cracking of bones. 

Starfire rushed up to him to see what was wrong with him, and she watched in frozen horror as Beast Boy's skin rippled and his bones broke and reformed, creating a new creature. His skin faded darker and darker, leaving just a hint of it's green and the new creature that opened his eyes was a huge beast.

Starfire opened her mouth and let out a scream.

* * *

Jinx stood smirking at everyone with new eyes. Her body had remained mostly the same, but her eyes sharpened their color until they gleamed red and her hair had followed suit, falling down from her pigtails. She held out her hand, palm up to a building, and then flipped her palm down. The building crashed accordingly, a huge puff of debris and dust clouding out of the bottom. 

The edges of her smirk widened.

* * *

The blond girl Kitten stood outside of her home for the first time since her house arrest probation. She rolled her head and arched her back. Her pupils had changed till they were elliptical, and her teeth had sharpened into tiny fangs. 

Kitten ran her tongue over her teeth and smiled, a deep purr rising from her throat.

* * *

Robin stood. His eyes had darkened to a black blue, and his skin had paled to an opalescent white. Where was she? They could be reunited after all this time, they could finally be together. His wide eyes glanced to the side. She's coming. 

There was a man kneeling before him, and Robin looked down at him with emotionless eyes. Deathstroke chanced a look up. "Master, I have awakened you, and I wish for nothing more than to serve you."

Robin flinched as he sent power out of his being and down to the grab the man and lift him into the air. "You wish to serve me?" Robin asked quietly.

Deathstroke nodded nervously, fervently. "I wish for nothing more."

Robin stared at him a slow smile appeared on his face that didn't reach his eyes. He threw the man to the side. "Then start serving. Prepare a room."

Deathstroke just stared confusedly, and then his eyes narrowed. "Yes, my lord."

She was coming to him, he needed a room for them.

* * *

Jinx smiled as she danced around the city, waving her arms gracefully. With every movement she brought more buildings to their knees, people from within the buildings screaming out in terror and pain. 

Every scream that she heard and every soul that was lost seemed to make her stronger than the one before it. And with the power grew an ever increasing death lust. Her very body ached for destruction. It had been so long since she last reigned.

* * *

Beast Boy turned his head to look at Starfire, an expression of hunger on his face. Starfire raised her hands and sent several starbolts at him. They glanced off of him and he cocked his head to the side, studying her intently. 

Starfire bolted from the room and flew out of a window as fast as she could. She looked behind her and almost fell down from shock. Beast Boy was behind her, leaping from building to building, with such gigantic jumps that he had almost caught up with her.

* * *

Kitten turned to anybody she could find in the street and reared her claws at them, slicing through their faces. "Do you think that you are prettier than me?" she hissed at them, "Kitten is the prettiest of them all!" 

Blood soaked through clothing. One of them companions of a woman she clawed pulled a gun out on her. He shot twice, hitting her in the shoulder and the stomach. Her flesh reformed and pushed the bullets out of her body.

Kitten smiled showing her bloody fangs as she advanced on the man. "Come here, sweetheart, let's have some fun," she purred.

* * *

Raven floated into the building and her eyes locked with Robin's. Suddenly, Robin appeared in front of her, with no sign of movement, and grasped her forearms in his hands. "Finally," he murmured hoarsely, touching his face to hers. 

He turned his head to side. "Servant," he called, "Is my room ready? I need time with my goddess."

Raven's face twisted into a smile as she moved her arms up along Robin's shoulders, the fog of her fingers enveloping his skin.

The sun shone a rusty red in the scorched sky. Robin held out hand to Raven and she clasped it, allowing Robin to pull her up onto the ledge. She smiled as she looked down over the city that lay before them. The metropolis was immersed in chaos, violence and fear reigning, people hiding inside of their homes. Robin turned to Raven and smiled. "It belongs to us, my love. It is all ours."

Raven showed her teeth as she held out her hands as though to embrace the image. Instead a shock wave erupted from her hands and rippled through the city breaking buildings apart, destroying the city even further. "All of it?" she questioned lightly.

"All of it," he murmured, his mouth next to her ear.

Raven frowned suddenly as she caught sight of large Tower in the shape of a 'T'. "What about that?" she demanded almost angrily, "Is that ours?"

Robin jerked his head up and followed the direction of her eyes. At the image of the Tower his breath hitched in his throat, and his face gave the smallest twitch. He put his fingers on Raven's elbow, his eyes locked on the Tower. "Even that."

They both stepped off the ledge together, Raven created a sheet of ice for herself to stand on, while Robin merely let himself fall. He landed on his feet and the pavement cracked around him, as he sank into a crouch.

Raven floated down until she was level with him. "Come along, my darling."

Robin looked up from his crouching position, a smirk planted firmly on his face, and then he slowly stood, breathing in deeply. "Yes, let's go."

* * *

Cyborg was on the other side of the town, his sonic cannon out and ready. His main objective lately had been to just stay alive. He had tried to fight back at first, but it didn't matter what he hit any of them with. None of his technology worked either, the power of the new gods and goddesses was simply incomparable. 

He was now on the Tower's Island. He needed to get inside and see what other Titans or League members he could contact. If they were going to defeat these new enemies, then they would need to work together.

Cyborg made it inside of the Tower okay and he made his way carefully down the hallways until he was in the security control room. He activated the computer and typed in the twenty-three digit code. Instantly the Tower windows were covered with titanium and the doors were reinforced, and a protective shield surrounded the Tower.

Cyborg breathed a small sigh, and let his canon turn back into a hand so that he could actually use the computer. Cyborg turned on the big screen with the locations of all of the Titans and opened up the communication airwaves. He stared momentarily at the list of Titans.

Raven was gone. Cyborg knew that whatever was happening had affected her. His scanner readings of her had never been completely accurate because of her half demon heritage, but right before she fled they had gone haywire. The readings were off the chart, and couldn't possibly be correct. Something odd had happened.

Robin was also gone. Somehow Cyborg knew that if Raven was gone then Robin was also. He had the feeling that Robin may have been the one that Raven had fled to. Besides of Robin weren't affected than he would have shown up by now.

Starfire and Beast Boy. Beast Boy's locater showed him to be downtown, his movements erratic and jerky. Cyborg had a sinking feeling. He spoke into the communicator, "Beast Boy. Beast Boy are you there?"

There was nothing but static.

Starfire didn't show up anywhere on the map. He reloaded the program and opened it to several different viewpoints. She wasn't on the map. Cyborg wasn't sure what to make of this. Had she...changed also? He shuddered at the thought of a psycho Tamaranian on the loose.

So it was just him out of the original five then. Cyborg closed his eyes for a moment and tried to steady his mind. "Well, let's try the other superheroes then," he said outloud.

* * *

People ran frantically by Robin and Raven as they passed down the middle of the street. The world was in a panic. Raven turned her head to the side and let the ice roll off of her hands onto some nearby people, freezing them in place. 

Robin seemed to feed off of the people's panic and fear. He gave the impression of radiance and as they walked along his power was steadily increasing.

The Tower stood before them.

* * *

It took Cyborg half an hour to get ahold of the Titans East. Speedy was gone. Aqualad was also gone. As was Kid Flash. 

But Bumblebee, Mas y Menos, and Hot Spot were still there. The three of them had created a shelter of sorts within their base and there was no possible way for them to leave.

Cyborg sighed in frustration. He needed backup and he needed it badly. His hands formed fists in frustration. What was he doing hiding while people were being killed! Wasn't it his job to protect the citizens?

Cyborg noticed a sudden change in the temperature and he looked up. The entire Tower was covered in a sheet of ice. The ice broke and shattered and the walls crumbled leaving Cyborg sitting alone and defenseless facing two very powerful deities.

Cyborg stared at the appearance of the two standing before him. He almost didn't recognize them, and it shocked him. He had lived with these two for years, but the people standing in front of him were not Robin and Raven.

"Guys?" he whispered, "What happened to you?"

Robin turned his eyes towards Cyborg and the mechanical man shuddered under the power of his gaze. Robin narrowed his eyes and Cyborg slowly crumpled into the ground, his heart rate slowing and becoming erratic.

"Robin!" Cyborg gasped his hands scrabbling at the floor, "Please!"

Robin blinked and shook his head slightly, as though shaking off a memory. A hand on his shoulder suddenly stopped him. He looked over to Raven and was startled to see tears on her face.

"Leave him," she commanded.

Robin held eye contact with Raven for a few moments and then shrugged indifferently. "Let's go to the top," he said.

Raven grasped his arm just above the elbow and they phased up through the ceiling and out of sight.

Cyborg continued to breathe heavily for a moment or two. He closed his eyes. Robin had just tried to kill him...Cyborg opened his eyes and knelt against the floor. Of all people! There was no way that he was going to let Robin kill him!

Cyborg stood and prepared to follow the two upstairs, but then he halted. Raven... She was like a kid sister to him. He couldn't fight her.

* * *

Raven and Robin moved up through the floor and entered into a dark room with the blinds shut. There was a breath of memory in the room that startled Raven, and she let go of Robin's arm and walked forward. 

The walls were lined with books and photos. One of the photographs in particular caught her attention. A small pale girl with violet hair and a large half metal black boy standing proudly in front of a car. They were covered with grease and dirt, but they both seemed cheerful any-way.

Raven drew in a startled breath. The picture was so familiar to her. She could almost remember the way her finger hurt when it got pinched in with the wrench. And the grease on her was nothing compared to the amount that she had thrown on Beast Bo-.

Beast Boy. Cyborg. Starfire.

Robin.

Raven's power fluctuated and she fell to the floor. Robin was instantly by her side. He reached out a hand, but Raven held up her own, blocking him out. "Leave me!" she hissed.

Robin frowned darkly, but proceeded out of the room, allowing Raven a moment to breathe.

* * *

Cyborg slumped against a wall and slid down, his head in his hands, his fingers messaging his temples. Suddenly he was aware of the presence of someone else in the room. Cyborg jerked his head up and was greeted by the sight of Raven kneeling in front of him. 

Cyborg jumped to his feet; his arm instantly morphing into a sonic cannon. He put the barrel of the cannon inches away from Raven's head. "Don't make me hurt you."

Raven didn't react to the cannon in front of her, instead she put her head further into the barrel. "Kill me."

Cyborg was too startled to move. "What?"

"Kill me!" Tears were flowing freely down her face.

He started to pull his arm away, "Raven, what-?"

Raven latched both of her hands onto his arm and yanked it to her forehead. "If you don't kill me, then things will get worse. Do it, please!" she begged.

"Just tell me what's going on," Cyborg said, changing his cannon back into his hand, "I can help you fix this!"

He took her head in his hands, and she bowed her head into his open hands. Suddenly Cyborg felt his hands getting cold and his fingers froze to her face. Raven raised her head and he could see her eyes, different than the ones he knew. Her lips curved into a smile.

Cyborg ripped his hands from her face and raced toward the stairs. Raven didn't phase through the floor, instead she simply floated along behind him, taking her time; like a cat with a mouse.

He ran through different hallways and stopped in the training room, turning to make sure that she was still following him. He took in a deep breath. If he could just get to the safety room, then maybe he could stop her.

Raven was still following, energy billowing out around her, destroying the halls that she passed through. Cyborg was just ahead of her. He was a shiny, odd creature. She felt strange when she laid eyes on him. He was something that should be destroyed.

He opened the door to one final room and rushed inside, sweat dripping down his body. He went all the way inside and then turned around to face her. Raven entered the room and then froze at the sight of the white walls.

She shuddered and shut her eyes. Spasms were contorting her body and her hands balled into fists so tight they cut the soft flesh of her palms.

Cyborg circled the room carefully, keeping his eyes trained on Raven. He stepped out of the doorway and stared for a moment more at the pain racing through her body. Cyborg bit his lip and pressed the button that closed the doorway.

He paused to collect his thoughts and turned to find himself face to face with Robin. The god smiled malevolently and reached out a hand to grab Cyborg by the throat.

A sudden jet of green hit the side of Robin's hand. It did nothing to hurt him, but the distraction allowed Cyborg time to move out of reach. Cyborg turned towards the source. "Good timing Star," he said gratefully.

Starfire nodded her head, her usually exuberant expression gone from her face. She moved forward, power flowing off of her hands. "Wait!" Cyborg called.

Starfire continued moving and shot several more bolts of energy towards Robin. The blows glanced off of him and destroyed more of the Tower surrounding him. Starfire was thrown back until she was level with Cyborg.

"I was gonna tell you," Cyborg said, "Not to do that, because then that would happen."

Starfire frowned at him, "What is happening to our beloved friends? Where is friend Raven?"

"Raven is in the safety room, but I don't know how long that will hold her," Cyborg bent in closer to Starfire, speaking quickly, "Go to Raven's room and get her mirror, the one to Nevermore. I'll distract Robin."

"But-" Starfire began.

Cyborg cut her off, "Hurry, I can't hold off Robin for long. God I hope that egotistical little bastard never finds out that I said that."

* * *

The mirror to Nevermore was hidden in a drawer that Starfire discovered only after she had already ripped Raven's room to shreds. It was cracked and broken, and coated with an odd substance that Starfire soon recognized as blood. 

Starfire wrapped it carefully in a shirt that was also in the drawer and flew towards where she had left Cyborg and Robin. She caught sight of Cyborg at the end of a hallway. He was breathing hard and sweating heavily.

"Take the mirror to Raven!" he gasped, "She's in the safety room!"

Starfire continued on to the safety room. She went to the observation panel and peered down into the room. Raven was in the room on hands and knees, her head bowed in pain. Starfire put her hand to the window.

Almost as though she could feel it, Raven sent a glare up to the window. The glare was so hate filled that Starfire actually stumbled back a bit. Raven flew up to the window and reached out her fingers; crystallizing and shattering the glass.

Starfire tripped as she moved and fell to the floor, her hands ripping through the cloth of the shirt. Finally the edges of the mirror bit into Starfire's hands and she raised it up and turned it so that Raven could see her own reflection.

The mirror glowed and dark power reached out and grasped Raven's form, tendrils of black power dragging her into the mirror. Raven took one last gasp of air before she disappeared into the mirror.

* * *

As Raven slipped through the darkness of Nevermore she could feel the different emotions of her body slip away and become their own personality. Love, Lust, Fear, Timid, Happy, Intelligence, Rude; they all fell away one by one, until there was only one emotion still clinging to her. 

Hatred was ripped away from her and stood tall on it's own, turning as though to face her. Raven landed harshly on the ground of Nevermore. Even with the weight of her emotions gone she still felt heavier than ever.

The memories of what had happened the last few days came back as strong as ever, and with it Raven fell into shock. How many people had she killed? How many buildings had she destroyed? And Robin-

Raven stood up slowly and faced the Rage that was standing before her. Rage bared it's sharp teeth and the chakra on it's head burned brightly. "You can't put me back to sleep!" it screamed at her through clenched teeth.

Raven spoke wearily, "Are you going to kill me instead?"

Rage blinked and snarled angrily, "If I have to!"

Raven sighed and held a wrist up to her eyes. Rage watched suspiciously. Raven pressed a thumbnail to her vein and applied enough pressure so that she pierced it. Blood began seeping out at a strong steady pace.

All of her emotions were suddenly surrounding her, dark expressions on their faces. Rage stared at Raven, in shock. Raven smiled faintly. "It's hard to feel much emotion when you are so damn weak."

* * *

Starfire was shocked to see the blood pouring out of Raven's wrists. Nothing had cut her, yet cuts had appeared and the blood began soaking into the carpet. Starfire pulled out the shirt and used it wrap Raven's wrist firmly. 

She pressed firmly on the pressure points on Raven's wrist, doing her best to stop the flow of blood. Slowly but surely the pour of blood was reduced to a trickle, and Raven's eyes slowly opened. She blinked a couple of times before locking eyes with Starfire.

"Good morning Starfire," Raven murmured.

"Good morning friend Raven," Starfire replied.

* * *

Review Please. 


	7. Emotional Sacrifices

Warning: Violent. 

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Quote: 

"To forgive is not to forget. The merit lies in loving in spite of the vivid knowledge that the one that must be loved is not a friend."

-Gandhi

Chapter 7

Emotional Sacrifices

* * *

Raven stood and walked dizzily through the hallways, heading closer and closer to the sounds of fighting. Starfire flew a short distance behind her, watching almost cautiously. Raven seemed unaware of her surroundings, and her usually graceful movements were slow and clumsy. 

I know how to fix this. I'm the only one in the entire world who knows how to fix this.

Raven moved into a room in time to witness the battle between Robin and Cyborg. Raven continued forward until she stood in front of Robin.

Robin halted when he saw, and he seemed to forget about Cyborg. He moved forward with movements faster than she could follow and had her head cradled in his hands, her face close to his face. "Raven?" he questioned, his eyes searching hers.

Raven didn't say anything, instead she just stared back at him. Robin's face contorted and he threw Raven away from him. "What have you done?" he screamed at her.

He advanced upon her still form, but was distracted once again by the green bolts from Starfire. "Whatever has been done, the fault is mine," Starfire called out in a wavering voice.

Robin turned his hate filled eyes towards her and flew after her. They were soon both out of sight.

Cyborg hurried over to Raven and knelt down beside her. She was struggling to sit back up. Cyborg helped her to stand again. "What's going on Raven? What happened to you guys?" he asked frantically.

"An energy woke us up, it would take a huge force to put us back to sleep," Raven mumbled almost incoherently.

Cyborg was speaking to her, but she couldn't hear his voice, all she could see was his lips moving. A voice in her mind was talking instead.

Raven you can undo this. If you can release all of the power to return this world, than you will have saved it.

Raven turned, the weight of her body dragging her down. "I know an incantation. But..." she hesitated, "I have to kill a part of me to do it."

Cyborg looked at her, speechless. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"It's my sacrifice to make. Leave me alone," Raven said as she left the room.

Raven walked to her bedroom. She created a circle of salt and light and sat in the center of it, and by her limp hand was a double edged knife. Cyborg stood just outside the door watching, but Raven caught sight of him and used her magic to slam the door shut.

Now alone in the near darkness, Raven began chanting. A black glow outlined her body and Raven took the handle of the knife into her palm. A white light was emanating from the center of her body, and after waiting for a moment, Raven drew the blade across the flesh over her heart.

Her breath caught for a moment, but she continued her chanting, ignoring the blood spilling down her chest. She touched her fingers to her still beating heart and in a quick motion she pierced it.

As the blood spurt out of her chest different forms of Raven emerged from her and disappeared. With each form, a wave of power surged forward, rocking the world again and again, until an utter blackness ensued.

* * *

Starfire flew over to Cyborg. "Friend Robin has ceased struggling and has lost the consciousness!" she reported. 

Cyborg pulled out his communicator and contacted Titans East. They reported that their comrades had also fallen unconscious and that their readings had returned to normal. Cyborg turned off his communicator happily and went forward to the door of the room Raven was in.

"Raven!" he said as he pushed open the door, and then froze, "Oh God!"

He ran forward to where Raven lay in huge puddle of her own blood. He turned her over and his eyes landing on the gaping cut in her chest. He pushed a hand tightly over the wound and did a quick scan of her body.

She had lost ninety percent of her blood and her temperature was down to forty degrees, but her heart was still beating.

That couldn't be possible, but he wasn't complaining. "Starfire!" he yelled as he changed one of his fingers into a burning laser in order to cauterize the wound.

Starfire entered the room and instantly went pale. "Friend Raven!" she cried moving forward.

"Stop!" Cyborg commanded, "Go the med lab and bring in a needle and thread!"

Starfire gave a quick nod and then quickly flew away.

Cyborg turned back to Raven and did another quick scan. She was down to eighty five percent of her blood and her temperature was at forty-eight degrees.

He blinked and redid the scan. Now it eighty six percent blood and fifty degrees. Cyborg cautiously lifted his fingers and was startled to see her skin knitting itself back up again. He didn't need any more proof. She was healing herself.

Cyborg lifted her carefully and then ran her to the medical lab.

* * *

When Robin woke up he found himself restrained to a bed in the medical lab. He blinked his eyes hazily and then became fully alert. What was he doing here? What had- 

A wave of panic set over him as he remembered everything. What had he done? He began struggling to get up.

"Hold up," a voice said calmly.

Robin snapped his head towards the noise and saw Cyborg standing next to the bed. "Are you the normal Robin or the psycho kill-every-one Robin?"

"The first one," Robin answered, "What happened?"

Cyborg frowned, "You don't remember?" he asked skeptically.

"I remember what I did," Robin said frustrated, "But I don't know why."

"I can't tell you why the hell it started," Cyborg replied.

Robin paused, "Why did it end?"

There was a long period of silence before Cyborg spoke again. "Raven stopped it."

* * *

Raven sat quietly on the edge of the roof, watching the sunrise. She opened and closed her hands quietly, still struggling to adapt to the pain that she felt in them. She didn't jump when she heard the voice behind her. 

"Raven?"

It was Robin. She knew his voice. Raven didn't move or even indicate that she was aware of his presence. He moved forward slowly. "Cyborg told me that you managed to stop it all. But, he said that you were hurt very badly."

Raven still didn't move.

Robin continued softly, "But you don't look very hurt."

Raven spoke without turning. "My physical self is fine."

Robin waited for her to continue, but she didn't. "So what was it?"

"I had to kill a part of me," Raven said, finally turning away from the sun and facing Robin, "When I use my power I use my emotions. So in order to release a very large amount of power I had to sacrifice some of my emotions."

Robin's eyes widened. "You lost some of your emotions?"

"No, I killed some of them. The more powerful ones anyway," Raven answered, staring at him.

Robin was speechless for a moment or two. "Which ones?" he finally managed.

Raven turned away from him again and stared straight into the sun even though it must have been hurting her eyes. "I sacrificed love, rage, happiness, fun, and hope. They were the ones that wouldn't evoke stronger rage."

"You can't feel them any-more?" Robin questioned, reaching a hand out to grasp her shoulder.

"They no longer exist for me," Raven clarified.

There was silence on the roof broken only by the flow of a cool wind. "I'm sorry," Robin said quietly.

Raven didn't say anything for a moment and then sighed, "Yeah me too," she agreed bitterly, "Sorrow is something that I can still feel."

It took about two weeks for Robin to fully realize that the Teen Titans no longer existed. Beast Boy was the first to leave them all. He had 'found a new calling' while he was in his animal form, and he seemed to have lost most of the humor that he enjoyed before. He had renamed himself Changling and he was heading out on his own.

It was a few days after that when Starfire left. She said that she needed to get away from earth for awhile, and find herself again. She didn't understand everything that had happened here, that there was such power in the world and such evilness in the people that she considered friends.

Raven had cried to see Starfire go. Robin had turned to her to try and comfort her, but she walked away from him. Cyborg had watched the display quietly, and then he walked away too.

The three remaining lived in silence for three days, quietly rebuilding. The city had basically been destroyed during the reign of the gods, and for most people rebuilding seemed pointless. They flocked out of the city in large numbers, and the former 'heroes' were rejected for their destruction.

Then Robin walked into a room one day to see Cyborg giving Raven a hug. She didn't return it, but she had tears running down her cheeks when she pulled away. With so few emotions left, she felt those left strongly.

Cyborg walked up to Robin and stopped. "I can't stay here. I'm sorry. Goodbye."

He continued out of the room. Raven didn't bother to wipe the tears off of her face. Instead she just stared at the door that Cyborg had left out of, before walking slowly away. Ever since her sacrifice she hadn't used her powers. Robin was unsure if she didn't use them because she had lost them, or if...

He wasn't really sure of anything, to tell the truth.

It was a full two weeks after his first talk with her that Robin approached Raven again. She was out at the garden behind the tower, sitting and staring at nothing. Robin took a deep breath and walked over and sat beside her. She ignored his presence.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I have no grave to mourn at, so instead I just go here instead," she answered woodenly.

Robin didn't say anything, but he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Raven let several moments of silence go by before speaking again. "I'm pregnant."

Robin jerked in surprise and he stared at her. "What?"

She blinked slowly and her gaze rose above the garden and out towards the broken city.

Raven didn't answer his question, instead she just continued. "I'm going to destroy it."

"Why?" Robin sputtered, grabbing her arm.

Raven's arm lay limply in his grasp. "I don't want to do this again."

"What again?" Robin demanded.

"I don't want another Keya," Raven finally turned and looked fully at him, "I don't want to love another child who is evil. I don't want to get attached to you again."

Robin searched her eyes as though looking for something. Raven just stared back with empty eyes.

"You can trust me Raven," Robin said almost pleadingly, "You can believe me. I won't leave you."

Raven didn't respond. Robin grasped both of her arms in his hands and shook her slightly. "Listen to me!" he demanded, "Don't do this, Raven! Don't shut down!"

If he could just get some sort of reaction out of her, then he would know that it wasn't hopeless. Raven was still in there, somewhere beneath all of the blank emptiness. He could reach her, he was sure of it. After everything-

Raven stared blankly at him, and then stood slowly, her arms sliding out of his grip and she walked away. Robin watched her leave for a moment and then he stood up and attacked the garden with such a rage that he could not contain it. Once it was destroyed he turned back to the Tower, breathing heavily, and went inside.

She was already gone. There was no note, or any real sign that she was gone, but he could tell any-way.

It took him one day to gather the last of his things and then he left also.

* * *

Review Please. 


	8. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own it.

* * *

Epilogue 

Quote:

"And when I came back, I was shaking in my books and if you had come even halfway to me, had given me some sign, I think I'd have kissed your feet. But you didn't."

Gone with the Wind

* * *

He had inherited billions and then invested his money into the reconstruction of the destroyed cities. The investments proved to be fruitful and he expanded his wealth massively. But before people could begin to whisper about his wealth when everyone else was poor, he showed himself to be a humanitarian of enormous proportions.

And he was only twenty-two years old.

It made him the most eligible bachelor of the year, and women were throwing themselves at his feet, in hopes of money and a better life. For each woman that turned up at his door, he wrote a check for a million dollars, gave it to them, and then sent them away. He didn't need friends like that.

Occasionally he would don his Nightwing costume, but somehow it didn't feel right to him anymore. The petty jewel thieves shouldn't be punished when he himself had killed so many and got away.

Deathstroke was long gone. He had tried to regain his villainy after the return of the world, but no one was there to try and stop him, and the world wasn't really worth taking over anymore. Deathstroke had already won it once, after all, and even he got weary. So he laid away his costume and walked into the distance awaiting a return to hell. He felt more at home there anyway.

Despite the fact that he no longer worked at night Richard always found himself on the prowl. During the night the harsh sun wasn't there and the air seemed cooler and life seemed a bit better. And even if he did manage to sleep would wake up within an hour because of his haunting dreams, remnants of his past.

So instead Richard just took to the streets and walked quietly. He was always alone, the idea of him needing a body guard was laughable, though no one else really understood why. Life was kind of a joke being played by someone with a very dry, sardonic sense of humor.

The ringing telephone brought Richard out of his reverie and he pulled out his cell phone. Even with all the money in the world he still used a regular cell phone. He had no real need for high tech gadgets anymore.

"Hello?" he answered.

His signature was needed on a few more checks, and they needed his approval before they stamped his name. Richard sighed and gave his permission. It wasn't like it mattered anyway.

* * *

The night was cold when he left the mansion and began moving down the sidewalk. Normally these walks were soothing, but it seemed like it was going to be a miserable night. Once again.

One of the construction projects that he had sponsored was located only a few miles from his house and Richard headed there with no real idea of what he was doing. When he got there the construction project was looming high in the sky, steel rods like the bones of a long dried skeleton.

He stared at the site for awhile, before a strange urge took over his body and he walked to the first layer of steel rods and pulled himself up. Instantly he could feel his old super hero persona take over, and he crouched down at the thin metal before flinging himself across the way and to another rod, climbing higher and higher. Once at the top he stood up, balancing precariously, a slight smile on his face as the wind whipped through his hair.

Breathing deeply he let himself fall back through the construction, adrenaline pumping through his veins, a complete free fall. Ten feet from the ground he suddenly reached out a hand and grasped the framework, swinging himself around with the momentum until he was perched in a crouch on the steel.

"It always scares me to death when you do that," a low voice said, startling Richard.

He fell backwards and landed flat on his back and cringed in pain. When he opened his eyes he saw a face staring over his. His eyes widened in shock. Her hair was longer and blackened and loosely pulled back, but the color of the eyes were the same. Amethyst.

He backed away quickly and stood up, staring at her. Her skin was still as pale as ever, but her regular costume had been replaced with civilian clothes and black hair to become more anonymous- as though she could with eyes like that While Richard felt years older than he was, she looked every bit the part of a twenty-one year old.

"What are you doing here?" he finally managed.

Raven bit her lip wistfully, "Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for, but I guess that I can understand that."

Richard didn't answer, memories and emotions swirling through his head. Confusion was foremost. "Where have you been? What have you been doing? I..." he stared.

Raven took a step forward, but Richard took a step back. She noticed and stopped moving. "It's a kind of long story," she said softly. Richard's face began to harden as his shock decreased.

"Why the hell are you here?" he spat angrily, as he turned around and began walking away.

"Robin, please," Raven called from behind.

Richard flinched, "That's not my name," he said coldly as he continued moving away.

A hand slipped around his arm, stopping him. "Listen to me first."

Richard turned around to face her, an impatient expression on his face. "What?"

Raven seemed to hesitate and then she reached into the pocket of her jeans and she pulled out a paper and held it out to him. Richard sighed and grabbed it and glanced down. His eyes widened.

"That's a picture of your daughter," Raven said softly.

Richard's legs would no longer support him and sat down hard on a cement block, staring all the while at the picture in his hands. It was a little girl no older than four, a thatch of thick black hair on her head and blue eyes the exact shade of Richard's. She was staring somberly at the camera.

He didn't even look up when he heard Raven's voice, much closer to him this time, "You must have really dominant genes, she looks exactly like you," Raven said, somewhat shakily.

Richard finally looked up. "You said that you were going to get rid of the baby," he said, almost questioningly.

"I know that I said that," Raven explained quietly, "But when the baby grew, my emotions...somehow grew also. They were kind of reborn, I guess."

His eyes searched hers and then looked back down at the photo in his hands. "Why didn't you come back?"

Raven knelt down so that she was in front of him, slightly lower than eye level. "I still don't have emotions in my memories. I didn't remember what I felt about what happened between us except for the bad things. I didn't remember anything good, anything happy between my mother, between the team, between us. I couldn't bear to go back, not until I figured things out a bit."

There was more silence, as Richard took in everything she said, and everything she didn't say. Finally he spoke, in a tight voice.

"So you hid her away from me," Richard said, indicating the picture in his hand, "I've missed four years of it," he was silent for a moment and then stood up quickly, turning away so his back was facing her

"Every time I have some semblance of a family, or even friends, they're taken away from me. Or else they leave me," he said roughly, a hand in his hair, and turned around to look her straight in the eyes, "Every-one's gone. I have been completely alone for five years," he said in a slightly haunted voice. He turned away again, "Dammit!"

Raven was silent. Richard lost control so rarely. She let a few quiet moments go by and then she deadened her emotions and tried to ignore every feeling within her body. She took a step forward. "I want you take her, Richard."

Richard slowly met her blank eyes. She was always so damn good at hiding her emotions. "You want me to have her?"

Raven forced her mind to shut off, to go into autopilot. "To raise. She is your daughter."

Richard stared intently at her. "What about you Raven? What will happen to you?"

Her mind screamed at her to tell him what would happen. She would die. She would not survive without her daughter. "I'll leave. You won't have to see me again."

The silence of the night was overwhelming. Richard studied her eyes. He needed a sign, anything at all. Some twitch of the lips, a shadow passing through her eyes, a sigh, something.

Her face was blank as it always was. She looked as though she felt nothing about this offer. Richard sighed deeply and looked at the picture in his hand again. "If that's what you want, Raven."

Raven felt all of the air go out of her body, as though there was an actual tear in her lungs, but she refused to show it. She was handing over her life. She had already found out that there would be no more children for her, not in this lifetime. The doctor had called the last birth 'a miracle.' If only he knew.

Raven nodded slowly, mechanically. "Just so you know," she said as evenly as she could manage, "There's been no sign of anything abnormal in her. No quick development. No sign of any sort of powers. Though she is very absorbed in what she does, and she constantly pushes herself to improve."

Raven almost broke on the last sentence, but she managed to deliver it with no waver in her voice. Richard had been studying her face so intently, but he seemed disappointed by her words somehow. He nodded slowly and looked away. "You'll bring her by later?" he asked.

"Yes," Raven said, and then she hesitated for just a moment. Richard looked back at her. "Do you think I could have that picture back?" she asked quietly.

He looked at her with a slightly calculating expression, and then he held the photo out, but still out of her grasp. Raven took a slow step forward and reached for it. With sharp reflexes Richard grabbed her hand and covered it with his own.

Her hands were trembling slightly.

Richard closed his eyes for a moment and then pulled her forward so that she was pressed against his chest, both of his arms around her. "Dammit Raven, I told you that you could trust me," he murmured into her hair.

Raven held herself stiffly for a moment and then completely relaxed in his arms, the trembling increasing, as the fear left her body. "I'm not going to make you leave her. I won't let you leave me, not again," Richard spoke.

Raven didn't say anything, instead she just let the built up tears fall out of her eyes, and her arms slowly reached around him. A few moments passed by before Richard spoke again. Finally they broke apart again and Richard looked at the picture again with wide eyes as he held Raven's hand within his.

"What's her name?" he asked.

Raven smiled a little as she spoke quietly. "I named her Robin."

* * *

I actually have a much longer, full 'epilogue' that I may turn into a new chapter or else I may do it as a one shot. Then again, it is very long and detailed so I may also just turn it into a story. It wouldn't be anything all the super-plot lines of these.

I would LOVE to get reviews from you guys. If you love me, anyway. I'll take requests from anyone, as long as it is with my pairings.


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